Kingdom Hearts 3: The Resolve of All
by Drexbann15
Summary: Sequel to A Change of Fate. Sora and Riku are well into their Mark of Mastery Exam, but Xehanort has a diabolical plan to set everything into motion and achieve the completion of the X-Blade. We will follow Roxas, Xion, Lea, and Drexbann again in this saga... 7 of Light, 13 of Darkness... The Second Keyblade War draws nigh... Resolves will be tested... will Darkness consume us all?
1. Chapter 1: Introduction

**Kingdom Hearts 3: The Resolve of All**

Introduction:

Alright guys, I wanted to try this out so let's see if it will work out. I'm having this be my 'A Change of Fate' Sequel and my Kingdom Hearts 3 story. Read 'A Change of Fate' so you'll know how everything gets started.

Okay! As of now I have all the OC's I need and more, totaling six including my own. Great characters here and I hope all the people who own them review constantly ;)  
Sorry I forgot to mention before but all the OC's except Drexbann will fill in the unknown slots in the True Organization XIII.

Name/Number:

I. Master Xehanort

II. Braig/Xigbar

III. Xemnas

IV. Ansem Seeker of Darkness

V. Terranort

VI. Young Xehanort

VII. Isa/Saix

VIII. Vanitas

IX. Mark

X. Alliana

XI. Skyler/Xylersk

XII. Fate

XIII. Mona

* * *

And those who will start off protecting the Light and the worlds:

Guardian:

Sora

Riku

Kairi

Roxas

Xion

Lea

King Mickey

Drexbann

Ventus

Aqua

By the way, I got a pretty good outline for this story already and it will be epic!

The story will begin when The Three Wayfinders is complete.

* * *

We will start off a month after the epilogue of A Change of Fate. Lea, Drex, Roxas, and Xion live happily in the slowly restoring Radiant Garden until harsh circumstances will draw them out of their peaceful lives and they help in the fight against the great darkness...

* * *

**A/N- Please trust me as a writer: I will try to make it as fair and equal to all of you as possible. :) Be patient for a good story.**


	2. Chapter 2: A New Day

**The Resolve of All**

_Before we begin, I would like to say in advance to the owners of the OCs, that I will keep all of their characters aspects and put them into the story except their home world. I thought it could be a lot more simple for me to do this, and yet still make this tale much more interesting, so sorry. Other than that just, Read and Enjoy!_

* * *

Chapter 2: A New Day

"Aaaannnddd King Me!" Roxas smirked.

"What?!" Lea exclaimed. "How'd you do that?!"

"I told you Lea, Checkers are my thing." Roxas grinned victoriously. "Got it memorized?"

"Hey! That's my catchphrase." Lea complained.

"Not anymore. Got it memorized?" Roxas laughed.

"I miss Zombie Roxas; at least he didn't hurt my feelings." Lea joked.

"Oh come on, don't be such a sore loser. Zombie Roxas was no fun anyway." Roxas joked back.

"Yeah, Lea. Get that memorized." Xion smiled as she walked into the living room with some food.

It was early in the morning for the Sea-Salt Gang and they were all still the same roommates as they agreed to be a month ago. Xion had made breakfast for the boys while Roxas challenged Lea to another round of Checkers which he foolishly accepted.

"Hey, is Drex up yet?" Lea inquired.

"No, he's sleeping in; been working on the Restoration Committee nonstop since he started there." Xion informed them both.

"He seems pretty sad lately too." Roxas noted.

"Why should he feel sad? He's got everything he could have wanted." Lea replied.

"You think so?" Xion responded.

Before any of them could say another word, Drex came thundering down the stairs ready for another day of scheduled work.

"Hey..." He greeted groggily.

"Oh my... Drex, you've got dark circles under your eyes!" Xion noticed. "Have you been sleeping alright?"

"No." Drexbann simply stated.

"What's wrong man?" Lea asked.

"Nothing... just some bad dreams that's all." Drex confessed.

"Do you want to talk about?" Xion sweetly offered.

"It's stupid, you don't have to." He said.

"We don't mind." Roxas retorted.

"Really?"

"Yeah." They said in unison.

Drex sighed. "Okay. Maybe it'll help."

"Well here, take my seat." Roxas stated as he got up and shared the love-seat with Xion, with her sitting on his lap.

"...Alright, I've been having these awful nightmares lately..." Drex rubbed his eyes. "And they've been absolutely torture."

"What are they about?" Lea inquired in honest concern.

"Well... you know about the world where I was born?" Drex stated.

"Actually, not really. You mentioned something on the Clock Tower, but I didn't think you were serious, right?" Xion responded.

"It doesn't matter. The point is... it... it was really my fault my world was lost to darkness and... It's just been eating me up inside..." Drex confessed.

"Relax Drex. I told you before, you shouldn't worry about the past, but we've been through thick and thin together, so we're going to help you with this." Lea comforted.

"The best thing to do is to talk about it." Xion reminded.

"You know what? You're right Xion." He smiled. "After work, I'll tell you guys all about my life before the Organization, if you're willing to deal with my sob stories."

"No, not really. We just want you to quit with the whole 'woe is me' attitude that's all." Lea chuckled.

"Well, I'll take it." Drex replied.

"So what are you doing today at the Committee?" Roxas asked.

"Patrol with Leon." Drex answered.

"How are things with you and Yuffie doing Drexy~?" Xion smirked.

"Turns out the girl is just a tease." Drex answered. "She keeps vanishing into a puff of smoke whenever I get close, so whatever. We're still friends though. But anyways I digress, thanks for the talk though."

"Don't sweat it Drex, see ya later man." Lea waved off. "I'll be sure to bring some extra Sea-Salt for our therapy session tonight."

"Okay, see you guys later." Drex said as he left out the front door.

"You think he's okay?" Xion asked the pyro and the blond.

"Come on, it's Drex. Of course he's going to be fine." Roxas comforted.

"We lost him once... I don't want to lose him again..." Xion stated.

"That makes three of us." Lea nodded.

Just then the three of them heard a knocking on the door. Xion got up to answer it and her jaw dropped when she saw who it was.

"PUPPY!" She squealed.

She gave the dog a hug, and Pluto was struggling for his life! Roxas and Lea got up to save Pluto's life before he actually passed out and then Xion reluctantly released the pooch still riddled with glee for their visitor.

"Isn't that Mickey's dog?" Roxas questioned.

"Yeah, and take a look at that." Lea took the letter out of Pluto's mouth which had the King's seal imprinted on it.

"It's from Mickey. What would he want from us?" Xion inquired.

"Lea, read it aloud for us." Roxas requested.

Lea opened the letter and he read the message aloud so that Roxas and Xion could listen as well.

_Dear Friends,_

_I wish that I didn't have to pull yourselves out of your peaceful lives, but we need your help. There are troubling signs a' brewing, and we believe that our previous ordeal has not yet drawn to a close yet. We also think that there are people who are in need of help and are calling out to us. So we need all the assistance we can muster. And hopefully the four of you are reunited and can provide your support. More can be discussed if you all can report to Master Yen Sid's Tower as soon as possible._

_Thank you and Best Regards,_  
_Mickey_

"What does that all mean?" Roxas questioned.

"Mickey needs our help." Xion stated. "I think we should hear what he has to say."

"Alright if you guys are up for it then after Drex and I are done with work we'll talk about it later." Lea agreed.

"You better get going Lea." Roxas reminded.

"Yeah, I do work for a scrooge." He grinned as he left the two others. "See ya."

"Bye." They said in unison.

As Lea left out the door, Pluto ran out as well and before anyone could stop him he was already gone too though they both could have sworn they saw some sort of black wisp of smoke? Either way, Xion was sad...

"He'll be fine." Roxas put an arm around her.

"You sure?"

Roxas kissed her forehead to comfort her. "Of course, he got here alright, so he should make it back."

"You're right. Let's start this new day then." She beamed now.

* * *

"The local variety of Heartless seem a bit more eager today, huh Leon?" Drex stated.

"Yeah... not a good sign in my book." Leon responded.

Drexbann and Leon arrived at the reconstructed Bailey which was destroyed after the Battle of 1000 Heartless. Drex was brandishing his two white swords and Leon held his gunblade. Even though it was cleared by the city, people rarely come around here anymore.

"Let's check this place real quick then head to the Cas-!" Drex was cut off as creatures appeared in front of them... white creatures... "Nobodies?! What are they doing here?!"

"I don't know, but we need to take care of them!" Leon charged at the Dusks.

Slashing and lunging, Drex and Leon fought the Nobodies with relative ease, but after the last Dusk was vanquished by Drex, Leon called out to his teammate.

"Drex! Behind you!" He pointed.

Before he even knew it, Drex was blasted by an incredible shockwave, and he was slammed against the far wall and he momentarily lost consciousness! Then Leon gazed on at his new opponent, assuming he was the one who led the Dusks.

The being was a man in a black coat... an Organization coat with his hood up. The Mysterious Figure suddenly summoned a fireball and launched it towards Leon. The brunette sliced through the fire and he rushed his opponent. The enemy in black simply pointed his gloved hand again and sent another shockwave at Leon which unfortunately had a much more powerful and fatal effect on him than it did on Drex and he was smashed against the wall... however, Drexbann had awoken and noticed Leon was defeated.

"Leon! Get up!" Drex ran to him and tried to shake him awake, but it was no use...

"Compassion..." The mysterious figure suddenly spoke. "...such a powerful emotion... it can bring about great strength from the heart, and yet... it can also bring about its downfall..."

"Who are you?!" Drex shouted.

"I am a being of your own creation..." He darkly answered. "...A being of your destruction..."

"Shut up! I meant your name!" Drex demanded as he pointed his swords at the man.

"You mean you don't know? The others will surely be hurt... but nevertheless, this is neither the time nor the place... but it will be soon..." He ominously stated as he sent another shockwave of energy at his opponent.

Drex tried to block it with his swords, but the attack shattered them into a million pieces upon contact with his weapons, and they were lost forever...

"Consider that a warning..." The black-coated figure growled as he summoned a corridor of darkness.

"NO!" He yelled as the man disappeared into the dark abyss...

Drex knew it was too late to give chase, so he did the only thing he could do and he picked up Leon's still unconsciousness body and dragged him back to the Restoration Committee. Drexbann had carried Leon all the way from the Bailey to Merlin's house and everyone was alarmed when they saw him place Leon on the bed.

"Leon! What happened?! You gotta wake up!" Yuffie pleaded.

"Don't worry my dear, I'm sure he'll be fine. He just needs some rest." Merlin comforted.

"Whoever did this really knocked the stuffing out of him that's for sure." Cid remarked.

"Drex, did you see who did this?" Aerith inquired.

"I didn't see his face... but his voice sounded familiar." He answered.

"Listen, you can have the rest of the day off if you want." Cid offered.

"Sure, I think that would be a good idea since I lost my swords." Drex sadly responded.

"Don't worry, we'll find you something else to use." Aerith consoled.

"Yeah right..." He sadly replied as he was about to leave until Leon grabbed his wrist.

"Wait..." He weakly stated.

"Leon, what is it?" Drex got down to get at eye level with Leon.

Leon, slowly but stealthy, took something out of his jacket pocket and placed something into Drex's hand. Then after the item was given to his friend, Leon passed out again. Drex gave the gift one quick glance and put it in his own pocket.

"See you guys later." Drex strangely waved off his coworkers...

* * *

The mysterious figure had appeared where the Room Where Nothing Gathers and was surrounded by tall white thrones, most of them occupied by others who wore the same coat...

One of the men in the taller thrones had leaped down and gently landed next to his dark ally. The man who came down from above let down his hood to reveal a man with grey hair, amber eyes, and a deep voice...

"Has the warning been issued...?" Xemnas inquired.

"Yes sir." The man bowed his head. "It's only a matter of time now."

Suddenly, four more hooded figures appeared side by side next to the still unknown member and you could tell that they were all comrades. One of the other four members spoke up to address Xemnas.

"The letter has also been delivered..."

"Very well..." Xemnas ordered. "...Then go forth, and fulfill our goals."

The five members nodded in compliance as they didn't waste any time and they all teleported into darkness...

* * *

**A/N- The time has come for dark events to begin to transpire. What will happen to our heroes? Who attacked Drex and Leon and what did Leon give to Drex? These questions will be answered... next time! :) Reviews=Update.**


	3. Chapter 3: Repercussions

**The Resolve of All**

Chapter 3: Repercussions

Lea had just gotten permission from Scrooge McDuck to leave early with a duffel bag of Sea-Salt Ice Cream. Lea made him so much money anyway; the boss didn't have to be a scrooge today.

"This should last a few days." Lea chuckled to himself.

Just then, when Lea turned the corner which led back home, he spotted Drex coming down the other side of the nearby alley. Lea pondered why his friend would wander around by himself.

"Hey Drex!" Lea tried to get his attention.

Drexbann looked up to see his pyro friend in concern... he had to tell him about the man in the black coat, but maybe he could wait until Roxas and Xion was with them.

"Lea, what are you doing out so early?" He approached him.

"Well, the boss said I deserved the rest of the day off and this." He motioned towards the duffel bag. "Said I was his favorite employee." He smirked.

"I find that hard to believe." Drex joked.

"Oh what do you know?" He smiled as he tossed the bag at his friend which he caught. "Anyway, what are you doing walking about? Still on patrol?"

"No... something happened..." Drex confessed.

"What? You get schooled by some Heartless? Don't worry about it, we all have an off day." Lea assumed.

"No, nothing like that, let's just talk in the house." Drex responded as he led them both back to their front door.

"Hey! Are you two decent?" Lea called out.

Roxas and Xion came around from the kitchen and approached their two roommates with curious looks on their faces.

"Of course we're decent. What did you think we were doing?" Xion innocently asked.

"You never know, nowadays." Drex replied as he plopped down on a chair in the sitting room.

"Why are you two home so early today?" Roxas inquired.

"Well, I got all of my work done real quick, but I don't know about Drex..." Lea answered.

"Here Roxas," Drex tossed the bag to the blond. "Put that in the freezer. And guys... sit down; I've got some stuff to tell you..."

After Roxas put the ice cream in the freezer, he joined his roommates in the sitting room to listen to what Drex had to say to them.

"Alright, something happened today during patrol..." Drex began.

"Wait, is Leon okay?" Xion inquired.

"He's fine." Drex continued. "Now as I was saying, during the patrol we were attacked... not just by Heartless but also, by Nobodies..."

"What?!" They said in unison.

"Then a man in a black coat showed up and defeated us both so easily, and I lost my swords..." He confessed.

"That's... impossible." Xion stated in fear.

"Maybe this had something to do with Mickey's letter." Lea pointed out.

"Letter? What letter?" Drex questioned.

"After you left, a dog sent us a message saying that Mickey and his friends were looking for help." Roxas informed.

"If the Organization is somehow coming back to life then we have to help." Drex declared.

"We're all in this together. So how about tomorrow we'll head over to where Mickey said to meet him." Xion affirmed.

"Great. But guys... there's something more to the attack." Drex revealed.

"What is it?" They all pried.

"I... I think I know who it was..."

"Really? Someone you knew?" Lea asked.

"Yes... listen though... long ago in my old home world I had some very good friends, like you guys..." Drex continued his story. "There were five of them though and all of us always hung out together... Then that tragic day came... and... I destroyed us all..."

"So you think one of your friends attacked you today? And that they could be in the new Organization?" Xion wanted to clarify. "How do you know?"

"That voice… There's no mistaking it..." Drex almost whispered to himself.

"What are your friends' names?" Roxas asked.

"Former friends I would imagine by now, their names were... Mark, Skyler, Fate, Alliana, and Mona." He stated.

"They sound like great guys." Lea said sarcastically.

"We should mention this to that Master Yen Sid Mickey mentioned in his letter." Xion advised.

"Let's get ready then." Roxas nodded.

The next day Roxas, Xion, Lea, and Drex had all taken their Organization coats out of storage and put them back on.

"Didn't think we'd need these again." Xion commented.

"Then why did we keep them?" Lea asked.

"Nostalgia?" Drex joked.

"Should we still use dark corridors?" Roxas inquired.

"I don't know any other way to get around." Lea responded.

"What about Merlin?" Xion suggested.

"We shouldn't need to bother with him." Drex replied.

"Yeah, I'm sure we'll be fine." Lea comforted. We've all had to develop some resistance to the darkness. Trust me."

Lea then summoned a dark corridor which whisked the four of them away through the dark pathways that connected the worlds. Eventually, the four friends had their feet meet soft green grass and they were next to the Mysterious Tower...

* * *

Two black coated figures had teleported in front of Lea's old family house. They let down their hoods only to reveal that they were just kids!

One of them was a girl with long, wavy pastel pink hair. She looked like she was about 15, but she also had a couple of scars on her face and she wore glasses in front of a pair of golden eyes.

The other one was a young man of 17 and he had purple hair in a slim, yet fashioned style; it reached to the middle of his back and had two bangs covering the sides of his face. On the back side, it was spiked up partway.

His left eye was also pupil-less so it looked like he could only see out of one eye which was amber as well. He also had elvish shaped ears, and with them he had earrings in the shape of the Nobody symbol.

"Fate... this is their residence?" He coldly spoke.

"Yes." She simply replied but then decided to ask her comrade something else. "...Xylersk, do we really need to do this?"

Xylersk smirked. "Have you lost your nerve already?"

"No... It's just... this seems so... unnecessary." She weakly replied.

"You deem the Master's wishes unnecessary?" Xylersk questioned.

"No! Of course not." She assured him.

"Then I suggest speaking only when you're spoken to." He retorted. "Understand?"

"Yes." She nodded.

Xylersk was about to carry out his mission with Fate when suddenly another dark corridor opened up right next to the two of them and out came one of their allies.

"Alliana, what are you doing here?" Fate greeted.

Alliana was 17 years old and she had black hair which was tied in a low ponytail that looked like a rope. The Asian girl also has bear claw-like scars on her shoulders. She also has long scar which winded down from the corner of her left eye to the base of her neck. She glared intently at her friends with golden eyes...

"What does it look like? The Master ordered me to make sure Xylersk doesn't overdo it again." She stated.

"Really? You weren't complaining when I was dealing with Brendan and his friend earlier." He responded.

"You almost killed them." Alliana reminded.

"But I didn't..." He smirked. "And when I told our old friend-"

"Wait. You talked to him?" Alliana inquired.

"Yes, I gave him a verbal warning."

"Knowing him, he probably figured out who you are just by your voice." She said.

"And that, my dear Alliana, will make it all the more easier for him to find us." He stated.

"We've been ordered to take care of him yes, but also Roxas, Axel, and the doll." She clarified.

"It'll be a cakewalk..." He turned back to the house. "His friend called him Drex... is that his new name?"

"Drex... I like that." Fate chimed in. "Hey Alliana, how is Mona doing?"

"She's still unstable. She might not make it." She answered worriedly.

"Sora will replace her number if her condition worsens. If she's not strong enough to serve the Master then she's useless..." Xylersk coldly proclaimed.

"Skyler... what happen to you?" Fate came close to tears. "We're all still supposed to be friends!"

"You've changed..." Alliana noted.

"Well... losing your heart will do that to you..." He darkly replied. "But I'm not alone... You and Mark have changed more that than I."

"At least we aren't slaves to vengeance." She retorted. "Are you that obsessed with destroying Brendan?"

"I am not shackled to such animosity... But how can any of you not have as much distaste for him as I? Need I remind you that it was his fault that we lost everything? He destroyed our home." Xylersk growled.

"Are you going to keep rambling or are you going to do the job?" She dodged.

And with that Xylersk dropped the conversation and he and Fate each created a large and powerful fireball and launched them at the house. The Sea-Salt gang's home was caught aflame! With the help of Alliana's wind power, she fanned the fire and it burned down to the foundation and then it finally collapsed into a pile of burning ash...

"Just like your home... your lives will be reduced to ashes..."

And the three of them left via dark corridor to return to their Master in the wake of the inferno they have left behind...

* * *

**A/N- How ominous... Will our heroes be able to handle these new foes? Former friends turned enemy? What will we see next time? Well you're just going have to wait. To the owners of Fate, Skyler, and Alliana: you like how I portrayed them? PM if you have any questions or concerns. Mona and Mark will be introduced soon. By the way, Reviews=Updates :)**


	4. Chapter 4: The New Quest

**The Resolve of All**

Chapter 4: The New Quest

"Gee, I hope Sora's okay." Donald quaked worriedly in Master Yen Sid's study with the attendance of King Mickey, Goofy, and Yen Sid himself.

"He'll be just fine as long as Riku's with him." Goofy responded.

"Oh! You don't think- No!" Mickey realized. "Master Yen Sid!"

"What is it Mickey?" The Sorcerer replied.

"I think that Xehanort could be up to something right now!" Mickey stated.

"No, it can't be..." Yen Sid pondered. "The timing is too perfect... could Xehanort possess such foresight?"

"We can't take any chances." Mickey simply responded.

"Very well, as a precaution I-!" Yen Sid was cut off as Roxas, Xion, Lea, and Drex entered the study.

Mickey exclaimed. "You're here!"

"Hey guys, we're here to help." Roxas declared.

"Ah, you must be Roxas." Yen Sid deduced.

"Yep, and those guys are Xion, Drex, and Axel." Mickey introduced.

"It's Lea now. Got it memorized?" Lea corrected.

"You all have arrived at a pivotal moment. You have my deepest gratitude. But nevertheless, I should inform you of our situation." Yen Sid stated.

"We need to tell you some stuff too." Xion stated.

"...As I am speaking, Sora and Riku are performing their Mark of Mastery exams by traversing the Sleeping Worlds. If they are successful in unlocking the seven Sleeping Keyholes and find their way back here then they will have become True Masters of the Keyblade." Yen Sid explained. "But unfortunately, there are troubling signs that something foul is afoot. Do you four know of a man named Master Xehanort?"

"Master... Xehanort...?" Roxas repeated feeling that the name sounded familiar.

"Yeah. Xehanort was Xemnas' Somebody right? As a matter of fact... he and Isa and even Braig didn't show up when I as revived..." Lea remembered.

"Indeed, but I'm afraid it's a bit more complicated than that." Yen Sid replied.

"You don't know the half of it..." Donald quacked.

"Yeah, my brain hurts just thinking about it." Goofy said as he rubbed his head.

"We can get the details later. Now what was it you wanted to tell us?" Mickey inquired.

"Well, I was attacked by a man in a black coat and some Nobodies." Drex stated. "The guy in the black coat was somebody I know."

"Another one of Xehanort's pawns... His reach knows no bounds..." Yen Sid responded. "An impending threat from the great darkness is upon us. I ask you four to help us with our cause."

"Of course we'll help. We want to help keep the worlds safe too." Xion smiled.

"Then present to me what weapons you will wield in combat." Yen Sid requested.

Roxas summoned his two Keyblades, Oblivion and Oathkeeper. Xion summoned her own special Keyblade which was an almost Oblivion look-alike which she called Twilight's Amity.

"Sorry, I don't have a Keyblade." Lea stated.

"Me neither." Drex added.

"Gosh, I guess they're going to need some help." Mickey addressed to Yen Sid and he nodded in agreement.

"What? We're going to need Keyblades too?" Drex questioned.

"They are the best weapons of choice to fight the Darkness." Yen Sid reminded. "Go ahead Master Mickey."

Mickey then walked up to Drex and summoned his Kingdom Key D Keyblade and turned it around so that Drex could grab the handle.

"In your hand, take this Key. So long as you have the makings, then through this simple act of taking, its wielder you shall one day be. And you will find me, friend—no ocean will contain you then. No more borders around, or below, or above, so long as you champion the ones you love." Mickey recited.

Drexbann nervously grabbed ahold of the handle of Mickey's Keyblade and it remained within his grasp...

"You have a strong heart, and the Keyblade finds you worthy to wield it." Yen Sid nodded.

"Way to go, Drex." Xion praised.

"Welcome to the club." Roxas stated.

"Now we just gotta get your own Keyblade." Mickey said as he dismissed his own weapon.

Then suddenly something twinkled inside Drex's coat... He took out the source of the light to see that it was the item Leon had gave him from yesterday...

Drex revealed to the others that it was a silver keychain with a lion's head for a token. And in a flash of light, Drex was granted with a Keyblade of his own... Sleeping Lion.

"Whoa!" They all said in awe.

"That's... convenient..." Drex marveled at his new weapon. "Humph... Thanks Leon..."

"Hey, what about me?" Lea piped up. "Don't I need one too?"

"Of course, but I will grant you that power myself in due time." Yen Sid assured. "But before we go any further, I would like to assign each of you a task to complete."

The four of them nodded in agreement and respectfully waited to listen to the jobs they would need to carry out.

"Master Yen Sid, did ya know Roxas and Xion had the Keyblade almost as long as Sora and Riku? With the time that they had, they deserve a chance too." Mickey stated.

"I agree... Roxas... Xion... I think that it's time to test both your skills for the Mark of Mastery as well..." Yen Sid declared.

"Us? Masters?" Xion questioned at which the Sorcerer nodded in response.

"No problem." Lea said with pride. "Our little buddies here can take on any test you dish out."

"Yeah." Drex agreed. "Lea and I have seen firsthand the experience they have and the fighting skills they possess."

"Very well. Roxas and Xion, do you have any objections?" He asked the couple.

"No. We're ready for anything." Roxas confirmed.

"Roxas and I will ace that exam." Xion said confidently.

"Then before we can begin, I have another request for you both to complete." Yen Sid said.

"What is it?" The couple inquired.

"Bring Sora and Riku's friend Kairi to this Tower." The Sorcerer mystically asked.

"Alright, how come?" Roxas questioned.

"Kairi is in great danger from the forces of Darkness as she is a Princess of Heart." Yen Sid informed.

"Kairi's a Princess?" Xion said.

"Yup." Mickey confirmed.

"Then let's go find her, back in the Destiny Islands, right?" Roxas stated.

"Uh-huh." Mickey affirmed.

"What about us?" Lea motioned to himself and Drex.

"You two will remain here for the time being and learn how to wield your Keyblades. If I see that you are skilled enough with the weapon then you can join back up with your friends." Yen Sid explained.

"Alright." They all understood.

"What's our Mark of Mastery going to be about after we find Kairi?" Xion inquired.

"...You two will seek out the other six Princesses of Heart and bring them here where it is safe." Yen Sid assigned. "They are in the greatest of dangers from Xehanort and his forces."

"Okay, who are these other Princesses of Heart?" Roxas asked.

"Well, there's Snow White, Jasmine, Belle, Cinderella, Aurora, and Alice." Mickey answered.

"You two better get going!" Donald quacked.

"See you in a bit." Drex stated.

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure Drex and I will to have to get used to calling you both Masters soon." Lea grinned.

"Thanks guys." They both smiled.

They waved off Roxas and Xion as they created a dark corridor to the Destiny Islands to retrieve Kairi and continue their quest of securing the Princesses of Heart for the Light.

"Alright, let's get Keyblading." Lea chuckled as he and Drex commenced their training.

* * *

The World That Never Was became their temporary HQ until they led Sora into their clutches, intent on making him another vessel of darkness. The white room which lay only one patient was being watched over by two others...

"How is her health fairing?" Saix inquired.

"Little to no improvement..." Mark responded. "So this leads me to believe that her body is rejecting the fragment of Xehanort's heart."

Mark was a 16-year-old boy with medium-length spiky black hair, and a pair of amber eyes to match the rest of the Organization. He is fairly skinny, but the look on his face said that he can handle more than his own in a battle.

"No matter, if she cannot sustain her existance and she slips away, Sora will be a more than suitable replacement." Saix coldly retorted.

"I'd rather not let that happen." Mark replied. "Mona is a valuable ally."

"We will see then if she can prove herself and survive in the field." Saix challenged. "Send her out with Xylersk tomorrow."

"...Fine." Mark reluctantly agreed.

Saix took his leave to report to the other superiors within another part of the Castle while Mark turned his attention back to Mona who was stirring from her slumber.

Mona was 17 years old with light ash blonde hair which was straight and at shoulder-length with straightened side swept bangs. When she opened her eyelids, Mark noticed the colors of her eyes were flickering from icy blue to cold amber until finally they settled on the appropriate shade of gold.

"Mark... Hey... what's up?" She groggily greeted her friend as she sat up from her bed.

Mark gave a smirk at her tenacity and how she is even still breathing. "Nothing... how are you feeling?"

"I'm pretty good." She yawned.

"Then rejoice Mona, you're finally going to be able to contribute to our Master's cause." Mark stated.

"Great!" She perked up. "What do I have to do?"

"Tomorrow, you will go with Xylersk and, along with a few of our other members, will begin collecting the Princesses of Heart."

"Alright... What about you? What are you going to do?" She inquired.

"...I need to find someone named Kairi..." He answered.

"Is she one of the Princesses of Heart too?" Mona pried.

"...Yes. And also... a very important variable to our plan..." He ominously stated.

"What about Brendan? Did you find him yet?" She questioned.

"He and his friends are our primary objective... I'm sorry Mona, but the Master says we need to eliminate him..."

She gasped. "...But why...? No..." She then turned away from Mark to lie back on her bed.

"Get some rest. Tomorrow is a new day..." Mark said stoic as he walked away and disappeared into a dark corridor...

* * *

Kairi was simply appreciating this gorgeous day here on their little island. The sun was shining and the beach was still beautiful. Sora and Riku were still taking their test, so she was just sitting on the old Paopu Tree listening to the waves peacefully...

"I hope they come back soon..." She wished.

She decided to go for a walk and headed towards the dock. She crossed the small wooden bridge which to the shack and when she went down the stairs, she was surprised to see two kids her age making out with each other... awkward?

"Umm... excuse me?" She finally recognized them as Roxas and Xion!

"Oh! Hi Kairi!" Xion separated from Roxas as her face blushed a deep red.

"Hey..." Roxas waved to the red-head still sort of in a daze.

"What are you guys doing making out in an old shack?" She chuckled.

"Actually, we're here to see you." Xion rubbed her neck sheepishly.

"Me? That's a first." She replied.

"We need to take you somewhere." Roxas informed.

"What? Where? Is Sora in trouble?" She worriedly inquired.

None of the three kids could have expected what had happened next. The shack they were taking shelter in was blasted by an energy beam of darkness!

The shack was destroyed and out of the wooden debris, Roxas, Xion, and Kairi crawled back onto the sandy beach to find the source of this violent attack.

Roxas was looking for a Giant Heartless or even someone just as powerful as Xemnas, but instead the perpetrator was identified as a young man with spiky black hair...

"It looks like this little venture will be a bit more interesting than I expected." Mark smirked.

"Who are you?!" Roxas shouted as he summoned his Keyblades.

"Oh, where are my manners?" Mark continued to grin. "My name is Mark Flynt and I understand that we both have a friend in common..."

"Mark... Roxas! He's one of Drex's friends!" Xion remembered.

"So, Brendan gave himself a new name like Skyler, has he lost his heart as well?" Mark pondered to himself.

"Xion! Go take Kairi to safety, I'll hold him off!" Roxas declared.

"Okay!" She nodded in trust and complied as she took Kairi through a dark corridor.

"So Roxas... you think you can take me on?" Mark inquired as he summoned his weapons which were a blizzard-white sword in one hand and deathly jet-black sword in the other.

"I know I can." Roxas gritted through his teeth.

He took his battle stance. "Very well then. Allons-y!"

And then they clashed...

* * *

**A/N- The battle between Roxas and Mark will take place next chapter! If anyone is wondering Allons-y means 'let's go' in French. (A request made by the OC' creator ;) Who will win? Find out next time! Reviews=Updates :)**

**And why did I give Drex a Keyblade? Oh, because there are too many OC's already who are going to have dual swords. And the Sleeping Lion Keyblade is a personal favorite.**


	5. Chapter 5: New Strategies

**The Resolve of All**

Chapter 5: New Strategies

"So Roxas... you think you can take me on?" Mark inquired as he summoned his weapons which were a blizzard white sword in one hand and deathly jet black sword in the other.

"I know I can." Roxas gritted through his teeth.

**Play Remastered Megaman Zero Tracks - Cannon Ball Mythos for Mark's Battle Theme.**

He took his battle stance. "Very well then. Allons-y!"

And then they clashed...

Mark's swords collided with Roxas's Keyblades and the ground began to shake as a shockwave was created from their impact.

Mark then leaped back and landed on the dock while Roxas gave chase. But as Roxas was jumping in mid-air, Mark gave a smug smirk as he sent two waves of dark energy from his swords at his opponent.

Roxas dodged then first one by an inch but the second one made a direct hit! At the last second though, Roxas was able to throw Oblivion in a strike raid motion at Mark!

Mark sidestepped out of the way to dodge the Keyblade just in the nick of time. But Oblivion embedded itself in the wooden floor of the dock, and Roxas crashed back in the sand with a grin as his face as he snapped his fingers... a trick he picked up from Lea...

Oblivion exploded right next to Mark, destroying the entire dock! The shockwave sent him flying into the ocean, and Roxas got himself back up as he re-summoned his Keyblades.

"There's plenty more where that came from!" Roxas taunted.

Then as a response, Mark leaped out of the water high into the air and used some aero magic to dive-bomb Roxas! Mark made himself as missile as he crashed into beach, creating a sandy crater around them. Roxas staggered as his barrier barely held up from his attack, but he looked around for Mark and he was nowhere to be found...

"Above me...?" Roxas searched the skies. "No... below!"

And just as he thought a black sword projected from the sand beneath Roxas and he was clipped in his leg, tearing through his coat and his skin. Roxas jumped back near the destroyed shack and examined his injured leg...

"This could have been a lot worse..." Roxas thought.

As Roxas performed a cure spell on his leg, he watched as Mark emerged from the sand beneath and charged at him again!

Roxas barely had any time to react as Mark and him dueled each other on the beach of Destiny Islands. Over and over, they clashed and both held their ground, neither of them giving an inch to the other...

Then Roxas finally saw an opening in Mark's defense and went for it! Roxas struck Mark in the shoulder and he let out a yelp of pain. Although, Mark was able to return a dark firaga spell at Roxas' chest and they both flew back from each other from the impact!

Roxas and Mark both stood back up on their own two feet. Roxas was ready to charge again for another round, but Mark simply put up his hand, motioning for him to stop.

"Enough... Roxas, you are a very skilled fighter. Quick on your feet if I may say so." Mark complimented as he clutched his shoulder in pain.

"You're not so bad yourself." Roxas panted. "Are you going run back to your Organization pals now?"

"Call it a gentleman's retreat, for you see... I have very big plans for you and your friends... until then... adieu." He chuckled as he teleported into darkness...

"...What big plans?" Roxas wondered for a moment then decided to shrug it off. "Better get back to Xion before she starts to worry."

And with that, Roxas created a corridor of darkness and he left the island somewhat in ruin as he made his way back to the Mysterious Tower...

* * *

"Hmmm..." Yen Sid stated. "Your skills with the Keyblade have quickly improved."

"Thank you, Master Yen Sid." Drex bowed.

"As for you Lea... you have yet to even summon your own Keyblade..." Yen Sid condescended.

"Hey! Cut me some slack, it's not like we don't have enough Keyblade wielders here." Lea responded.

Drexbann and Lea had been honing their abilities in another dimension Yen Sid had placed them in. Time flowed differently there... one minute in the outside world equaled to twelve hours in the other dimension. ...And they've been in there for about two hours...

"Nevertheless, your training will be postponed until other matters are dealt with." Yen Sid stated.

Then Xion came over from the next room and noticed Drex and Lea were done with their training, at least for the moment.

"Kairi is resting in the other room, and I need to head back and help Roxas." She informed.

"Wait, where's Roxas at?" Lea inquired.

"He's fighting someone named Mark, someone you know Drex?" Xion replied.

"Roxas is fighting Mark? Huh... Then I would imagine Roxas is going to have his hands full." Drex stated.

"Is he that strong?" Xion asked worriedly.

Before any of them could get another word in, Roxas entered the study via corridor and surprised his friends with a sort of victorious grin.

"Hey guys." He waved.

Xion ran to her boyfriend and embraced him with a tighter hug than she used on Pluto, but she quickly realized her folly and released him after a sneaky kiss to avoid awkwardness with the others.

"I was worried..." She admitted.

"I knew you would be." He replied.

"Roxas... did you beat Mark?" Drex inquired.

"Well actually... he just kind of... quit." Roxas informed.

"Really? That's strange..." He pondered to himself.

"Is Kairi okay?" Roxas asked.

"She's in the next room over." She answered. "Ready to head back out there?"

"Yeah." He nodded.

"Ahem... if I may speak, I would like to inform on new events that have come into development." Yen Sid addressed the four. "I fear that Sora and Riku's test has been hijacked by the Organization, and they are leading the two of them to terrible fates."

Everyone gasped. "What can we do?"

"As I expected, the Organization is taking advantage of the fact that they have strength in numbers which is why we have no choice but to change our own plans." Yen Sid explained. "Mickey, Donald, and Goofy have already left for the Realm of Sleep to aid their friends. Lea, I wish for you to join with them and stem the tides in our favor."

"Now that I can do, you can count on me. Got it memorized?" Lea smirked.

"What about us?" Xion inquired.

"Roxas, Drexbann, and Xion. We have saved Kairi and therefore secured one princess. Unfortunately, I am sad to say that the Organization has utilized all of their dark forces and already kidnapped three other princesses..."

"No way... what about the other three?" Roxas questioned.

"Split up and we can save them while we still can." Yen Sid said.

"Which three are left?" Drex asked.

"Jasmine, Aurora, and Belle; they reside in Agrabah, Castle Dominion, and Beast's Castle respectively." Yen Sid informed.

"I'll take care of Jasmine." Xion volunteered.

"I'll go to Castle Dominion." Roxas piped up.

"I guess that leaves me with Belle. And did you say Beast's Castle?" Drex stated.

"Yeah, the first world we went on a mission together." Xion reminded.

"Right... the one with a Beast for a master... fun." Drex sarcastically said.

"Go now you three, save who you can." Yen Sid dismissed them as they left via their own corridors of darkness for their respective worlds...

"...Now how do I get to the Realm of Sleep?" Lea inquired.

Yen Sid opened a portal which would take Lea to the problem at hand, and the pyro dived forth...

* * *

A large white room was all it was. The same room which Mona was recovering in, but she had finally gotten her strength back. She was stretching out her arms when Fate had walked in to check on her.

"Mona, you're looking a lot better." Fate said.

"Yeah, I feel a lot better, but Saix said I still can't be discharged for my mission with Skyler until a little while longer." She informed her friend.

"Well that's too bad. By the way, Sora finally fell right into laps. He's asleep in the The Room Where Nothing Gathers right now." Fate stated.

"What? Wait, we already have thirteen members. If Sora's added to our ranks, what'll happen to me?" Mona inquired.

"I'm sure having more than thirteen members won't change anything." Fate comforted. "Anyway, all of us are going to show up there with the Master."

"Wish I could be there..." Mona pouted.

"You'll be able to come to the next meeting. Don't worry about it." She consoled. "...Okay? I gotta go now. Bye."

She waved off her close ally as she teleported to The Room Where Nothing Gathers, leaving Mona to wait for her discharge then her escort by Skyler.

"It isn't fair..." She mumbled.

In another part of the Castle, Alliana and Xylersk were conversing with each other for their imminent meeting when suddenly Mark arrived through a dark corridor.

"You're late..." Xylersk suspiciously commented. "You're never late..."

"Yeah Mark, the meeting is about to start." Alliana reminded him.

"I apologize for my tardiness, but I had to make a quick pit stop at Castle Oblivion." Mark stated.

"Why?" Xylersk inquired. "There's nothing left in that hollow fortress."

"Quite the contrary..." Mark smirked. "As I saw it, I found out all that I need for us to jump the next hurdle."

"Really? Do tell." Alliana skeptically remarked.

"With the right technology, which would be easily obtainable, we'll reveal such a dark secret..." Mark grinned. "Alliana... I'll need your help."

"Only if you tag along with me on my next job after our meeting is finished." She bargained."

"Deal." Mark agreed.

"Hopefully you'll do better with her than what you did at Destiny Islands." Xylersk joked.

"I hope so too." Mark nodded.

"Then let's get to The Room Where Nothing Gathers and welcome Sora into our ranks." Alliana stated.

Then Alliana, Skyler, and Mark teleported away to attend the meeting where the desired thirteen darkness will be complete. And hopefully, all will go well for them and Sora will become another vessel for Xehanort.

...But we all know what happens next.

* * *

**A/N- Now what does Mark have planned...? Will our heroes be able to save the remaining damsels in distress or will there're efforts be futile? Well you're just going to have to wait and find out next time!**

******Important *** By the way, what happens between this chapter and the next chapter is what transpires at the end of Dream Drop Distance, everything that happened in the game is the same, with the obvious exception that Roxas and Xion do not need to be saved. Reviews=Updates :)**


	6. Chapter 6: Damsels in Distress

**The Resolve of All**

Chapter 6: Damsels in Distress

Roxas had made it to Castle Dominion, specifically Aurora's bedchambers only to find out that she was not there...

"Maybe she's somewhere else in the Castle..." Roxas wondered.

The spiky blond opened the door which allowed him to enter the hallway. He followed the corridors with no resistance until he made it to the Audience Chamber where the King and Queen's Thrones lay and also where they had cordial events.

"Why is it so quiet in here...?" He examined the empty Castle. "Hello?!"

"...Help me..."

"Who said that?" Roxas looked around.

"It is I, Phillip." He was hidden by a pillar and he looked injured.

Roxas ran to him and used some cure magic to heal his wounds, but the noble-dressing young man still looked like he was about to pass out from exhaustion.

"Sir, what happened?" Roxas questioned.

"Strange creatures came and..." He whispered. "They took Princess Aurora... I couldn't stop them..."

"The Princesses..." Roxas comforted. "Don't worry Phillip, I'll find her."

"Thank you." He weakly stated. "They were heading towards the Forbidden Mountain... if you leave now... you can still catch them..."

Phillip than passed out on the floor. Roxas took pity on the man and propped him back up on the pillar. The blond summoned his Keyblades and left the castle as he headed towards the Forbidden Mountain.

* * *

Xion had arrived in the Agrabah palace in search of Princess Jasmine but what she found instead was a note stabbed to the door with a curved dagger. Xion approached it and ripped the note off to examine the letter...

"We have Princess Jasmine... come to The Cave of Wonders with the randsom if you want her back alive... come alone dear Sultan..." She read.

Then suddenly a batch of Heartless surrounded her and lunged at the raven-haired girl. Xion summoned her Keyblade and sliced through the first one with a single blow. She then performed a powerful thundaga spell to stun the rest of them. While they were temporarily paralyzed, Xion dashed and effectively ended the Heartless with Twilight's Amity on one side while she impressively and simultaneously shot fireballs and destroyed the rest of the Heartless on the other side. They were all defeated and Xion was alone in the palace courtyard once again...

Xion looked back towards town and noticed there was not a sound to be heard, except the usual whistling of the wind and the wisps of sand that scurried across the ground...

"Why does this place look like a ghost town...?" She wondered. "I better get to the Cave of Wonders and save Jasmine then."

She summoned a dark corridor to take her to the desert. She guessed that the normal marauders would be a piece of cake for her... but if only she knew what was going to happen next on the other side...

* * *

Drex had arrived on the great bridge which led to the tall dark castle, and it belonged to the Master who was infamously the Beast...

"I'm sure he's going to be happy when I have to leave with Belle..." Drexbann stated as he shook his head that thought. "Maybe if I explain..."

Drex continued to formulate a plan as he crossed the bridge and entered the front courtyard. Why not take the direct polite approach? The brunette walked up to the giant front door and knocked three times and waited for an answer.

"Oui? Bonjour! Can I help you?"

It was not someone Drex was expecting. According to Xion and Roxas, the people in this castle were not human at all; they were just things like candelabras or clocks, or etc. It was as if they were all under some sort of weird spell. But this apparently was a normal French man answering the door...

"Uh... yes." Drex addressed. "I have a message for the Master of this castle. It's top priority."

"Of course, of course! Oui! Come on in." Lumiere said as he let Drex in and closed the door behind him. "I'll retrieve my Master... Please wait in the Parlor Room over there if you s'il vous plait?"

"Très bien, merci." Drex said impressing Lumiere with his response.

"Oh?" Lumiere smiled. "Il n'y a pas de quoi."

Lumiere continued his way towards the West Wing as Drex let himself into the Parlor Room to wait for the Master. He sat in a nearby chair and patiently waited for what he assumed would be a human master instead of the Beast. Maybe this was going to be a walk in the park after all?

...Until he heard a woman's scream and that thought was thrown out the window...

* * *

Roxas had made his way past the forest and to the eerily atmosphere which surrounded the Forbidden Mountain...

The blond came to a deathly looking land bridge which led to a dark castle in the distance. The ominous structure sent shivers down his spine, but he realized that he had to push forward to save Princess Aurora.

But before Roxas could even step forth on the bridge, a barrier formed in front of him preventing the spiky blond access to the castle!

"What...? What's going on?" Roxas looked around for the culprit.

Then out of nowhere, a dark corridor appeared behind Roxas and out came a young girl with pink hair...

"Hi Roxas." Fate greeted. "My name is Fate."

Roxas immediately recognized her as a threat and summoned his two Keyblades in each of his hands.

"So you're another one of Drex's friends, right?" He questioned.

"Yup. And you're the one who fought Mark." Fate replied. "He said you were pretty strong."

"Never mind that! Where is Princess Aurora?!" He questioned.

"Oh, her? She's long gone." She smirked. "Guess you were too slow..."

"No... But why are you collecting the princesses in the first place?!" Roxas inquired.

"You don't know? We need the seven pure hearts of light to open the Door to Darkness." Fate answered. "And to create the X-blade..."

"X-blade...? What are you talking about?!" Roxas said in frustration.

"Sorry blondie. That's all I was supposed to tell you." Fate responded. "And I was ordered not to fight you either..." She then raised her hand and the ground around them began to shake as if an earthquake was occurring. "But that doesn't mean you aren't going to have any fun..."

She giggled as teleported away into darkness leaving Roxas to contend with two opponents that were summoned on either side of him... Twilight Thorn and a Darkside...

"Oh great..." He groaned as he leaped at his giant opponents.

* * *

The scream had to be from Belle. Drex stormed out of the Parlor Room as he summoned Sleeping Lion into his hand. Hopefully, his training with the Keyblade will be enough to sustain him against any threat that he is about to meet.

"The scream came from the Ballroom..." He noticed.

Drex ran to the large doors and barged into the large chamber. The magnificent and beautiful Ballroom was golden-lined and looked like a diamond in the rough compared to the rest of the castle. The artwork on the ceiling was marvelous but now was not the time to admire its beauty because Belle was lying on the middle of the floor, unconscious...

Suddenly, barriers appeared on all of the walls and exits in the chamber. Belle and Drex were trapped...

Drexbann ran to Belle to see if she was alright. She was unresponsive but she looked unharmed at the moment...

Then... the echo of footsteps could be heard behind the brunette signaling that they were not alone... Drex turned around to meet his old friend...

**Play the Graceful Assassin Battle Theme on a second tab.**

"Long time, no see... Brendan." Xylersk stood there with a satisfying grin on his face which quickly turned into a grimace. "I see you have a Keyblade now..."

"You mean since you last saw me and attacked my friend and me?" Drex replied. "Yeah. Some things have changed."

Then a dark corridor appeared and Skyler was then joined by a girl with light ash blond hair and matching amber eyes. She stood by his side, but she looked almost relived to see Drex.

"Brendan... you're alive." Mona beamed.

"You didn't believe me?" Xylersk raised an eyebrow.

"No it's just... seeing him in person. It's been a while." She stated.

"Just so you guys know its Drexbann now, Drex for short." He reminded them.

"You're a Nobody?" Mona questioned.

"No... That's not it. I can sense that he has been recompleted." Xylersk noticed.

"Huh? Then why did you change your name?" Mona inquired.

"Tch... I see now..." Xylersk realized. "It must be because you are utterly ashamed for what you have done to us and our world as Brendan, so you cast that name aside to make you forget... But believe me, we are living proof that you cannot escape your past..."

"Shut up!" Drex shook his head as he remembered that horrible day. "It was an accident! I'm sorry for what I did back then!"

"Are you? An accident implies that there is no one to blame. Will your apology bring back our world? Our families? My heart?" Skyler was starting to boil over.

"...Skyler... Drex didn't mean to-!"

"Save it!" He silenced her words. "Now Mona, you're going to leave Drex to me. Move the princess off to the side and enjoy the show... This shouldn't take long."

Mona reluctantly complied as she snapped her fingers to use some magic to levitate Belle's body and herself on the upper level above.

"You're so sure you're going to win..." Drex pointed his Keyblade at his opponent. "Well I've got news for you... I won't go down so easily this time..."

"...Prove me wrong then." Xylersk growled as he summoned two dual energy falcata swords.

The two former friends lunged at each other, both of them intent on ending the other...

They collided and a powerful shockwave ensued shaking the whole castle! Then the two leaped back only to slam into each other with brute force and amazing speed again and again. Skyler slashed downward only to be blocked by the silver Keyblade. Then Drex countered by impaling Sleeping Lion into the ground and this created a seismic wave which sent Xylersk flying across the Ballroom. The purple-haired man stood back up with a smirk.

"Not bad..." He dismissed only one of his swords. "But let's make it more interesting!"

Suddenly, Xylersk threw his other sword in a strike raid motion, not at Drex... but the giant chandelier above him!

The chain holding it aloft was severed by the sword and the chandelier threatened to crush Drex, but at the last second, the brunette dodged out of the way and the structure smashed into the floor.

"Close call." Drex remarked.

"Not close enough." Xylersk retorted as he raised his hand.

Xylersk then called upon his telekinesis powers and pushed the chandelier towards Drex!

He responded by cutting through the structure as he passed through it, intent on attacking Skyler who had no weapons in his hands. But Skyler made a motion with both his hands and controlled the chandelier pieces again and sent them at Drex. The brunette had to keep slicing and running just so he wouldn't get impaled. There were about fifty chandelier pieces chasing him all around the Ballroom now. Xylersk continued controlling and moving the projectiles and ordered them to do Drex harm as he and Mona watched on.

Then Drex had an idea. The brunette then came to a pillar and swung himself around it using centrifugal force to gain momentum, and then he let go.

Drex coaxed himself in aero magic and used his Keyblade to protect himself as he smashed head-on into the stream of projectiles. Drex went right through it all and found himself still going and right at Xylersk.

The purple-haired man had barely any time to react but he quickly re-summoned his weapons and performed a spin into an uppercut to meet Drexbann's assault. The power was so intense that a crater formed beneath them on impact. As they held each other there, gritting their teeth, they looked into each other's eyes, both of them determined to fulfill their resolve.

"It's no use..." Xylersk gritted. "You and your new friends will fall into oblivion..."

"What happened to you Skyler...?" Drex growled. "Why are you serving darkness?"

"Because of you... you took everything from me... but now you'll pay..." He responded.

"I don't believe you... That's Xehanort talking, isn't it?" Drex reasoned. "I know you Skyler... you have a good heart."

"I am a Nobody! I have no heart!" He bellowed as he pushed forward forcing Drex on one knee.

"Nobodies... can... have... hearts..." Drex struggled to hold on. "You don't have to do this!"

"Shut up!" Xylersk stated as he pushed through Drex defense and knocked his Keyblade out of his hand and delivered a roundhouse kick to his head, sending him sliding back to the middle of the Ballroom floor.

Drex panted. "Skyler... it doesn't have to be this way! Remember the good times back at home! You're better than this!"

Xylersk was about to give the finishing blow when he halted his attack...

There was hesitation in his eyes...

His deathly intent faltered and he began to shake his head and clutch it in agony...

"No... Just... shut up!" He struggled.

Even if they didn't know it, Skyler was trying to resist the darkness and the fragment of Xehanort's heart within him...

He warned Drex. "Get out... get out of here before I..."

Then suddenly the darkness reaffirmed control and his golden eye glowed with anger...

Drex was too weak to resist as Xylersk grabbed Drex's throat and he lifted him off the ground...

"Skyler... fight it. You have to..." Drex was having the life choked out of him.

Darkness steamed off Xylersk as he began to absorb Drexbann's power...

Then to his surprise, a Keyblade struck the arm holding Drex up and he fell to the ground in an unconscious state as Xylersk leaped back in awe and surprise, coddling his injured arm.

Mona was wielding the Keyblade that attacked him; it had the appearance of a pin tumbler lock key, with bandages adorning the base of the blade, Fenrir.

"Stop it!" Mona screamed. "I won't let you kill him!"

"Imbecile! Do you realize the consequences for this betrayal?!" He growled.

"Yes I do." She boldly stated as she quickly went to Drex's side and she teleported both of them out of this world to safety...

* * *

**A/N- Skyler is still in there somewhere... Mona saves Drex's life putting her own at risk, but where will they go now? What about Xion? Was she as unsuccessful as Roxas and Drex? State your thoughts and opinions. Find out what happens next and await the next chapter... Reviews=Updates :)**

**Impressed with my French ladies? I didn't even use google to translate it. ;)**


	7. Chapter 7: Rebound

**The Resolve of All**

Chapter 7: Rebound

Slashing through the Twilight Thorn one last time, Roxas finally defeated both of those giant bosses. Though admittedly, he was frustrated with himself for not being able to save Princess Aurora and finding out more information from Fate. But then something hit him!

"If they were waiting for me here, then Xion and Drex might be walking into a trap!" Roxas realized.

He had to decide who to check on first... Drexbann or Xion?

He knew Drex would understand if the blond checked on his girlfriend first, so Roxas didn't waste any time to summon a dark corridor to Agrabah...

* * *

In an unknown location, the new Organization XIII had moved headquarters since their last unfortunate delay occurred at The Castle That Never Was. Fate was walking through a dimly-lit hallway when she was stopped by another member who was waiting for her.

The boy had raven-colored hair along with matching amber eyes and he was wearing the trademark black coat. He gave a smirk at the arrival of his fellow ally.

"Fate..." He addressed.

"Oh, hey Vanitas." She greeted.

"The Master sees it best that you and I are to work together for our next mission." Vanitas stated.

"And what mission would that be?" She questioned crossing her arms.

"Hunting down Princess Kairi and capturing her." He simply answered. "It would make sense to assume that this Kairi will be more difficult to obtain than the others, so two members are better than one."

"And since when were you a team player, Vanitas?" She inquired.

"Since the Master forced me to join this stupid Organization. ...But I gotta say, it does have its perks." He smirked.

"Such as?" She pried.

"All of the fun we're going to have..." He grinned.

"Just make sure you don't have too much fun." She advised.

"I know that." He replied. "By the way, where are your other pals anyway?"

"Well... Alliana and Mark are still tinkering... Xylersk and Mona haven't reported in yet..." Fate informed.

"So it seems you're stuck in the middle." Vanitas chuckled.

"It seems so." She stated.

"As long as you stay out of my way, this snatch and grab will be easy..." He said as he began to walk away. "We'll depart in a few hours... be ready."

"There's no way I'm letting you have all the fun, Van." She called out to him.

"Whatever."

* * *

The Cave of Wonders always crept Roxas out a bit, I mean you're climbing into a giant cat's mouth down a dark tunnel. Using his previous excursions into the cave helped him navigate though, and he eventually found himself in the grand Lamp Room, where the giant keyhole was still locked in the back of the chamber.

"Maybe Xion is somewhere else... maybe back at the palace? ...But I had a feeling she would be here..." Roxas pondered.

Roxas decided to shrug off his gut feeling and followed his brain this time and created a dark corridor to search the rest of this world for Xion...

* * *

The smell of autumn filled his nostrils as Drex woke up and found himself in a forest. The trees themselves had blocked out most of the sun's rays, making the shade quite chilly. Something was wrapped around him though. Drex then inattentively rolled over onto his stomach and he stood up as the leaves crunched beneath his feet.

"Uhh... Where am I...?" The brunette wondered.

"You're in Twilight Town."

Drex just noticed the blonde girl lying on the ground where he was just at. Wait a minute...

"Mona! Were you... snuggling with me?" He suspiciously asked.

"Uh... well it was pretty cold..." She slightly blushed.

"Wow... sleeping with the enemy... that's a first for me..." Drex stated.

"You are so kidding yourself... it's not like I caressed you or anything..." Her eyes avoided his gaze. "And I am not your enemy!"

"You're certainly not the Mona I remember." Drex crossed his arms as he motioned to her eyes.

She stood up to face him. "So this is the thanks I get for saving your life?! It's not like I didn't have to stop Skyler from killing you... geez..."

"...Okay, you're right. I should be more grateful... thank you. But why did you even save me at all? Won't the Organization come after you? Or destroy you?" Drex questioned.

"You're welcome... and I doubt it. They need thirteen members and I'm number XIII. So, they'll just hunt me down like a dog and come after me." She nonchalantly responded.

"So what do you suppose we do?" Drex asked.

"Wait it out for a little bit until things simmer down." She suggested.

"...What about Xehanort? Your eyes aren't the same..." He reminded.

"Don't worry." She smiled. "I'm still the same girl, and I'm not about to let an old coot control my heart."

"If you say so...Wait! What about Belle?! We have to go back for her!" Drex said as he tried to summon a dark corridor but it didn't work. "Huh?"

"It must have been Skyler. He took a lot of your energy, so it might be a while before you can summon corridors of darkness again." She informed him. "It's too late for her anyway..."

"Well that's just great... " He groaned. "So what now?"

"I wanna check out this world for a while. It seems safe enough." Mona denied his request as she went out the hole in the wall towards town.

"You sure you don't want to cuddle some more?" Drex joked.

"Sh-Shut up!" She blushed some more as Drex followed her out.

* * *

Roxas has arrived at Beast's Castle seeing as Xion wasn't found anywhere in Agrabah. So maybe if he caught up with Drex they could look for her together.

Roxas had teleported into the Foyer area of the Castle and saw that the Ballroom door was slightly ajar...

Roxas walked right up to it to eavesdrop on the people who were inside. Their voices echoed in the chamber, so it was easy to listen to.

"Master Adam, please cease your weeping."

"But Cogsworth... Belle is gone... taken by the darkness once again."

"You can't bring her back like last time?"

"No... With my human form, I don't have the Beastly strength like I had before..."

"She'll return... I know she will..."

"I hope your right..."

Roxas was stunned that Belle was taken by the Organization as well. So to his horror, they might have lost six princesses!

Roxas ran back across the Foyer and let himself out of the castle and into the front courtyard.

"Kairi just became a lot more important. I better get back to that Tower and tell Mickey!" He declared.

Roxas then summoned another dark corridor to the Mysterious Tower...

* * *

"Well this is just fantastic..." Lea sarcastically stated as he examined the pile of ashes that use to be his house... "And I thought I was going to be the one who burned this place to the ground..."

Lea was able to save Sora from the Realm of Sleep and even just moments ago summon his own Keyblade, impressing everyone and making their jaws drop. All in the snap of the wrist I guess. Lea decided to call his weapon the Gotitmemorized blade. Just kidding.

In this story we're going to call Lea's Keyblade: Phoenix Flame.

"Now what?" Lea wondered. "...Maybe Roxas, Xion, or Drex are back now... I'm sure they won't take this news well..."

Lea then created a corridor of darkness to meet back up with Yen Sid and discuss the next course of action.

* * *

"Even though there's a massive crisis threatening the balance between light and darkness, I guess it doesn't hurt to have an ice cream break." Drex reasoned.

"That's the spirit!" Mona encouraged.

The both of them had just finished their ice cream sticks as they walked into the Sandlot, but then they were met with a bunch of annoying characters...

"Hey! I haven't seen you two before... What are you doing in my town?" Seifer addressed.

"Excuse me?" Mona questioned.

"This is Seifer's town, y'know." Rai informed.

"Respect." Fuu said.

"That's right. So you're going to have to tell me who you are before I have to take disciplinary measures." Seifer stated.

"And I bet you're just itching to get to that part." Drex responded.

"You're not as dumb as you look." Seifer smirked.

"Has anyone ever told you you're really annoying?" Mona accused.

"Oh? A cat with some claws on her. How about this...? You dump that loser and hang out with me?" Seifer proposed.

"...You're hilarious." She fake chuckled then became serious. "How about this...? You step off before I make you step off!"

"Rude." Fuu chimed in.

"Who do you two think you are, disrespecting Seifer like that, y'know?" Rai questioned.

"I think it's time we taught you some manners..." Seifer cracked his knuckles.

"Do you want to handle them?" Drex whispered to Mona.

"I got this." She agreed then addressed the gang. "Hey, you guys want to know what my favorite game is?"

"Sure, why not?" Seifer humored her.

Then Mona made a motion with her hands. "It's called Freeze Tag! Freeze!"

And just like that, Mona froze the three members of the Disciplinary Committee with a blizzard spell and they were immobilized in the ice.

"Cool." Drex joked.

"Really?" She raised an eyebrow.

"At least I didn't say, 'ice move'..." He chuckled.

She stifled a giggle as they both wandered towards the Back Alley, leaving the thugs to thaw out in the twilight sun.

"So how are Alliana, Mark, and Fate doing?" Drex asked.

"They're off doing their own stuff." Mona replied. "I really don't what they're doing..."

"For being one of Xehanort's vessels you sure aren't really in the loop..." He commented.

"That's because they were going to destroy me once Sora joined up, but he didn't..." She sadly said.

"Well that's good news, isn't it?" He comforted her.

"But I was disposable to them..." She confessed but then she recovered herself. "Not like I care what they think of me anyway... It's just... everyone's changed... Skyler, Mark, Alliana, Fate..."

Drex sighed. "We can still save them... all of them. I have plenty of friends who can help out."

"The Guardians of Light? Maybe..." She pondered.

"It'll all work out... It always does..." He smiled.

"You know... you haven't changed one bit since the last time I last saw you..." Mona noted with a grin.

"Well yeah, I'm still the same person I'm just-!" He got distracted.

BANG!

Drex did not see that lamppost pole in front of him, and his head smacked right into it.

"OW!" Drex staggered back against a nearby wall and clutched his head in pain.

"HAhahaha! You bonehead!" She almost keeled over from laughing too hard.

"Oh thanks for your concern for my face!" He yelled still trying to rub away the pain.

"Awww... do want me to kiss it better~?" She chuckled.

Before Drex could respond, Mona came up to him and lightly kissed his forehead. ...But then their eyes meet and something just... happened.

Mona's eyes flickered only momentarily from amber to icy blue... then to both of their surprise, Drex whispered something to her...

"It still hurts... right here..." He pointed to his lips...

Drex's arms wrapped around the blond's waist then she wrapped her arms around his neck as she complied with his request, and their lips met in a perfect kiss...

And for a moment... it was just absolute bliss for the two of them...

* * *

**A/N- A little humor and romance in this chapter for once. Now that Mona and Drex have become closer what will happen next for them? Fate and Vanitas are on the hunt for Kairi now... And Lea discovers his burnt down house. (They left the ice cream in there! ;_;) Also, where the heck is Xion? Find out more next chapter! Reviews=Updates :)**

**To the owner of Mona: I'm sorry your OC fell in love with mine. As you can see, it was an accident. And since the subject is up: if the other OC's creators want any other REASONABLE ships with their characters to take place... I'll consider it.**


	8. Chapter 8: The Horrific Truth

**The Resolve of All**

Chapter 8: The Horrific Truth

Yen Sid was waiting patiently for his comrades to return, but he sadly shook his head at the realization that indeed the other six princesses of heart were captured...

"Kairi is in deep danger..." He motioned his glance to the adjacent room where Kairi was still resting. "She too will learn the ways of the Keyblade though."

Sora had gone back into the Realm of Sleep for now to train some more with the Dream Eaters, and he said he wanted to take the Mark of Mastery Exam again as soon as he got back.

Mickey, Donald, and Goofy returned to Disney Castle to fortify their defenses in that world to keep it safe from the darkness.

Riku though left the Tower without another word after Sora had left. From what the sorcerer could surmise, he is doing some reconnaissance on the Seekers of Darkness. He hoped that their new Keyblade Master would return soon and safely...

Roxas and Axel then barged into the study, not even surprising Yen Sid however since he sensed them coming.

"Yen Sid, we have some stuff we need to tell you." Lea addressed.

"And what kind of 'stuff' would that be?" The sorcerer inquired.

"Xion and Drex are missing!" Roxas informed them. "And we lost the other six princesses of heart!"

"...And our house burned down." Lea added.

"...Wait, what?!" Roxas turned his attention to the pyro. "Lea! What did you do?!"

"It wasn't mean this time Roxas, I swear!" Lea defended himself. "Just calm down..."

"Calm down? My girlfriend is nowhere to be found, Drex is gone, and our home is a pile of ashes..." Roxas then realized something horrific. "And we left the bag of ice cream in there!"

"Ice cream?" Yen Sid raised an eyebrow.

Lea then gave a good slap across the spiky blonde's face. "Snap out of it!"

"Thanks, I needed that..." Roxas rubbed his cheek.

"If you two are done conversing, I wish to inform you both on the location of your other two friends." Yen Sid responded.

"You know where they are?" Lea perked up.

"Indeed. I sense that they both reside in the world of Twilight Town nearby, although they are each located on opposite ends of the city." He informed them.

"I think I know where Xion is." Roxas deduced.

"Then you go after her, and I'll check on Drex." Lea stated.

"When you are done collecting your friends, return here so that I may advise our next course of action." Yen Sid said. "Now go."

"Thank you." They said in unison and then they both departed via dark corridor.

When the two of them departed though, Yen Sid frowned and shook his head in sadness... maybe seeing some sort of tragic premonition...

* * *

"Are they ever going to come up for air?" Pence wondered.

"You guys are being rude! It's not polite to spy on people," Olette told her two friends. "...especially when their trying to be intimate!"

"Quiet. I'm trying to take notes." Hayner silenced her objection.

"Like you'll ever use them." She responded with a smirk.

Pence and Olette laughed at Hayner's expense which in turn interrupted the couple nearby and they separated staring at the children in embarrassment.

"Hey! Mind your own business!" Drex addressed them.

"Oh! Guys let's make like a tree and leave." Hayner stated as the three children ran off.

"We're sorry!" Olette called out to Mona and Drex just as they all ran around the corner.

Mona sighed and joked. "Looks like we had an audience."

"It was a good show." Drex joked back.

"I know~." She smiled.

"I wish the circumstances were better though." He admitted.

"Me too." She agreed.

"You want another ice cream?" Drex asked.

"Yeah!" She beamed. "You got me addicted to the stuff now."

"Let's head to the Tram Commons then." He said as he led her back to the shop...

But the two of them were only yards away from the ice cream store when a very familiar pyro came out of a dark corridor right in front of them.

"Drex! You're okay!" Lea stated. "You had me worried there for a second."

"Lea? Hey... what's up?" Drex responded.

"The sky." Lea joked. "But enough about that, you and I need to get moving and meet back up with Roxas and Xion... sound good? Wait... who's that?" He motioned towards Mona.

"Hi! I'm Mona." She greeted.

"Hey there, I'm Lea, got it memorized?"

"Don't you get it by now that everyone has your name memorized?" Drex smirked.

"Nope." Lea simply stated. "Wait a sec... she's one of your friends you mentioned earlier. So... isn't she bad or something?"

"Well, she saved my life. So she's good in my book now." Drex defended.

"I guess the more the merrier then. Any friend of Drex's is a friend of mine." Lea fist-bumped Mona.

"Likewise." She smiled.

Suddenly, the trio was surrounded by Heartless as well as Nobodies. And there were a lot of them...

"How about we start by taking care of these guys?" Drex suggested.

They nodded at one another in agreement, and they summoned their Keyblades and then lunged at the numerous enemies together...

* * *

"XION! Where are you?!" Roxas shouted as he searched the train station at the top of the hill. "Maybe she's up on the Clock Tower... Yeah definitely!"

Roxas decided to climb the steps physically up the tower. She just had to be there, she just had to be...

He rounded the corner and saw there on the ledge... with her hood up... Xion.

"Xion!" He relieved. "There you are. You had me really worried."

As Roxas approached Xion... she did not heed his presence...

Roxas wanted to embrace her, but he grew concern for her and changed his mind by just sitting down right next to her.

"Where have you been?" The spiky blond inquired.

"Roxas..." She finally spoke. "There's something I need to tell you..."

* * *

_Earlier..._

Xion looked back towards town and noticed there was not a sound to be heard, except the usual whistling of the wind and the wisps of sand that scurried the ground...

"Why does this place look like a ghost town...?" She wondered. "I better get to the Cave of Wonders and save Jasmine then."

She summoned a dark corridor to take her to the desert. She guessed that the normal marauders would be a piece of cake for her... but if only she knew what was going to happen next...

Xion had arrived at the Cave of Wonders and weirdly enough she found a message inscribed in the sand... so they must have just been here.

LAMP ROOM. It said.

"Might be a trap..." She pondered. "Good thing those marauders aren't expecting me."

She continued her way down the giant cat's mouth and made her way to the end of the cave. In the Lamp Room... it was deserted... odd.

"Where are they?" She looked around.

Then suddenly, barriers formed behind the raven-haired girl, trapping her in the chamber!

"Guess I should have expected that." She remarked.

"Yes, you should have."

Xion looked around for the source of the mysterious voice, but her question was soon answered as Alliana teleported on the platform in front of her.

Xion immediately summoned her Keyblade and got ready for battle. "Who are you?!"

"You don't know me, but I sure know you, Xion." She greeted. "I am Alliana."

"Where's Princess Jasmine?!" Xion demanded.

**Play Terra's Battle Theme for Alliana's fight on a second tab.**

"Gone." She simply stated. "Darkness knows no bounds in its consumption of the light."

"How could you?!" Xion responded.

"Easy." Alliana smirked. "I just go along with it, and hopefully this will all work out for the best."

"How is this the best?!" She angrily replied.

She sighed. "I want everything to just... go back to the way things were... Xehanort can make that happen."

"Darkness will only betray you. You can't let yourself be its puppet!" Xion declared.

"How ironic for you to say that..." Alliana chuckled as she summoned two rapier swords.

"What do you mean by that?" Xion suspiciously inquired.

"Well... why don't you fight me and find out?" Alliana grinned as she leaped off the platform to battle Xion.

"Hope Drex doesn't mind I put you in your place." She retorted.

Xion lunged at Alliana, trying to get the first strike. But Alliana in response put the two hilts of her swords together and turned them into a windmill and started twirling them so fast that they blew Xion away into the far wall.

"You better get more creative than that!" Alliana stated as Xion recovered herself.

"Don't worry... I've got a few tricks up my sleeve." She responded.

"Then show me! Quit playing around." Alliana requested.

"You asked for it!" Xion remarked as she engulfed her Keyblade in light, Blade Charge.

Xion dashed for Alliana once again, and she gave a smirk as she did her windmill attack to blow her away once more, but this time... Xion cut through the wind with her powered-up Keyblade.

"What?!" Alliana exclaimed as Xion was right in front of her!

Alliana was able to dodge Xion's slash at the last second by sending jets of air from her feet and propelling her back on the platform which led to the locked keyhole.

"You better be more careful!" Xion taunted. "Don't want another scar carved into that pretty face of yours!"

"Not bad. But, let's see your how you deal with me face-to-face!" She growled as she dashed like the wind towards her.

The two girls collided in another display of power from both sides. Alliana made a downwards slash but Xion blocked it then countered only to be stopped by her opponent's other sword.

They were both relentless and ferocious with their physical attacks. ...Xion had the advantage in experience though, but Alliana was definitely holding her own.

Xion then took then initiative and rushed her opponent again. Xion delivered a firaga spell at her only to have an aero spell returned in response. The wind blew out the fire and Alliana rode the whirlwind and dodged her opponent's attack. Then Alliana continued to ride around, encircling Xion and trapping her in a conjured up tornado in the process.

The wind was howling and the twister provided no escape for the raven-haired Keyblade wielder. What's worse is that the wind picked up the sand in the cave and it became impossible to see at all now. Xion had to keep her eyes closed, but she was having an even tougher time since Alliana was sending shots of energy attacks from her safe haven in the dust devil she created.

What will she do?

One solution came to mind...

Xion pointed her Keyblade into the air and it glowed with an impressive yellow energy!

"THUNDER!"

The spell was so impressive, Pikachu would've applauded this thunderbolt. Xion sent a massive thundaga spell which lit up the entire chamber!

Alliana was electrocuted and then she landed on the ground smoking, and thus the twister of sand faded...

Xion was panting at the cost of her entire magic reserves, but it was worth it defeating Alliana. Xion approached the still smoldering body of Alliana, and to her surprise she actually began to stir and lay her body up against a nearby wall.

Alliana coughed. "Bravo, Xion. A very... shocking outcome."

"Any last words?" Xion asked as she pointed her Keyblade at her heart.

"Only two." She smirked. "Sweet Dreams..."

"Huh?"

_Sleep..._

Suddenly, Xion felt very drowsy... She knew she was tired from their battle but this was ridiculous!

"Why am I... so... sleepy?" She groggily asked herself.

Xion dropped her Keyblade and it was dismissed as she was struggling to keep her eyes open. She knew Alliana didn't perform that spell because it was definitely a young man's voice...

"Who...?" Xion fell to the ground unable to move, and she was on her last legs, trying to fight off the inevitable slumber...

Then someone else came into her slowly fading field of vision and helped Alliana up... It was Mark!

Mark then turned to Xion and gave a sinister smirk.

"Goodnight... No. _i_..."

Then everything went black...

"_How much longer until she's reprogramed?"_

"_The file I got from Castle Oblivion says not long at all..."_

"_...Very good. The puppet will serve us until it is broken..."_

"_My superior, why not put her to the test... Maybe reunite her with Roxas?"_

"_Yes... An interesting test indeed..."_

* * *

**A/N- Oh no... Comment and review... and you'll get an update...**


	9. Chapter 9: Tragedy Strikes

**The Resolve of All**

Chapter 9: Tragedy Strikes

"XION! Where are you?!" Roxas shouted as he searched the train station at the top of the hill. "Maybe she's up on the Clock Tower... Yeah definitely!"

Roxas decided to climb the steps physically up the tower. She just had to be there, she just had to be...

He rounded the corner and saw there on the ledge... with her hood up... Xion.

"Xion!" He relieved. "There you are. You had me really worried."

As Roxas approached Xion... she did not heed his presence...

Roxas wanted to embrace her, but he grew concern for her and changed his mind by just sitting down right next to her.

"Where have you been?" The spiky blond inquired.

"Roxas..." She finally spoke. "There's something I need to tell you..."

**Play the Vector to the Heavens Battle Theme on a second tab.**

Xion let down her hood to reveal her face to Roxas...

She looked the same...

But her eyes were glazed over... there was no light within them at all...

And yet tears were rolling down her face...

She stood up... gazing at the sunset like they both had done so many times before...

"I... I'm not a real person..." She confessed.

"What...?" Roxas was dumbfounded. "Xion, what are you talking about?!"

"I'm a replica..." She admitted.

"A what?"

"A REPLICA!" Xion shouted. "A PUPPET! A DOLL! A FAKE!"

"You're not a fake!" Roxas stood up and grabbed her shoulders to make her face him. "You're Xion, a beautiful and unique girl, who is real to me and no puppet in my book!"

"You... don't care...?" She questioned.

"It doesn't change anything for me... I still love you... and I don't care that you're a replica." He consoled.

"You should care..." She turned away. "And you shouldn't have come here..."

"Why not?" Roxas reached out but she backed away. "Come on!"

"...I really can't." Xion sadly said. "Roxas, you need to leave before I..." She trailed off.

"Xion…?" Roxas grabbed her shoulder, but she was still in a daze. "XION!"

Xion then stepped away from Roxas and she slipped out of his grasp... and she walked off the ledge and onto this air... Yet, she didn't fall from the tower either... like she was standing on some sort of invisible platform.

Darkness began to steam off of Xion and storm around her, like she was trying to contain an awful power from being unleashed. She clutched her head in distress and Roxas could only watch on in horror as his girlfriend summoned her Keyblade and pointed at him...

Xion spoke, but her sweet voice was distorted and corrupt. "...Are you ready Roxas?"

"Please... Xion... I can't fight you..." Roxas pleaded.

"Then this will be a lot easier for me..." Xion darkly stated. "After you're gone... Drex and Lea will be next..."

"NO!" Roxas responded as he summoned Oathkeeper and Oblivion. "I'm going to wake you up Xion! I swear it!"

"But don't you see? This is why I was created!"

Then Xion enveloped darkness all around them, they were both engulfed in the black abyss...

It was so dark...

And so cold...

"Xion! Xion where are you?" Roxas called out for.

Then he saw her! She looked normal enough...

He ran to her...

...as fast as he could.

He embraced her... But it was only an illusion...

Yet as soon as he did that, the darkness around him faded again and he was back on the invisible platform which was in front of the station. Roxas turned around and saw in horror what was there.

It was Xion! She must have been at least fifty feet tall and clad in this large armor. She had two enormous blades in each hand, and her face was completely covered up. Xion was ready to fight...

"Xion..." Roxas whispered.

Then suddenly a young man appeared on Xion's shoulder, and he had a very smug grin on his face...

"Roxas... we meet again..." He smirked.

"MARK! What did you do to Xion?!" Roxas demanded.

"Nothing you can fix..." Mark sneered. "Xion has returned to her true purpose and that is having her strings pulled by the Organization..."

"Not if I can help it!" Roxas bellowed. "I love Xion, and I won't let that happen to her!"

"I'm sure you will try..." Mark smirked. "But know this... will you be able to do it? Free Xion from my clutches...? The only way to do that is to destroy her."

"NO! SHUT UP!" He yelled.

"Ha! So now you see... No matter what happens next... I will be victorious on this day. The Organization will at least be rid of one nuisance..." Mark declared. "Xion... Kill him."

Mark then teleported away into darkness, and he left Roxas to contend with the monstrous Xion.

But Roxas dismissed his Keyblades and looked on with tears in his eyes at his corrupted girlfriend...

"I'm not going to fight you Xion... not if destroying you is the only way..." He cried.

Xion then combined her two giant swords into one and performed an explosive Magic Hour attack! Columns of light randomly jetted down from the sky at the speed of light as Roxas just stood there; ready to accept his fate...

Xion saw what Roxas was doing... and behind the armor, her eyes widened at the fact that he was not fighting back at all.

No! She can't do this! She has to stop right now!

But then it happened...

And the realization was too late...

Everything was just too much!

There was so much pain...

...so much agony...

...so much sorrow.

"ROXAS!"

The light was intense... so bright and so inviting... but then it got cold... so cold... and everything fell apart...

Then a hand reached out... it was so close and yet so far... too far to reach...

_"I'll...miss... you..."_

And then he was gone...

* * *

"What was that!?" Lea questioned when entire town shook violently.

"Up there!" Mona pointed.

The three of them gazed on in worry and concern as the Train Station at the top of the hill was brightly lit up with an intense light.

"It might be Roxas and Xion!" Drex realized.

"Let's go!" They said in unison as they made a beeline for the station.

When they made it to the top, the three of them looked on at the scene. It was Xion... alone... bawling and screaming 'Roxas'...

She was on her knees, staring at the ground where he had disappeared...

Then she looked up to see her friends and she was scared... scared for them... of her.

"Xion! What happened?!" Lea exclaimed as he, Drex, and Mona tried to approach her.

The raven-haired girl responded rather violently as she got up and stepped away from them, not even bothering to look any of them in the eyes...

"No... I-I c-couldn't control..." She trembled with regret and grief. "I couldn't control the power... and he... he..."

"Xion... where's Roxas at?" Drex worriedly inquired.

"Stay away from me!" Xion yelled. "Just stay away! ...It's for you own good!"

"Xion... what happened to Roxas?!" Lea demanded.

She cried some more. "I'm sorry... I'm so sorry..."

"No... No way..." Lea denied as he shook his head.

"Xion...why?" Drex said depressingly.

Xion then summoned a dark corridor and ran into it as fast as she could and she disappeared into the darkness... This only left Drex, Lea, and Mona in shock.

"No Xion! Come back!" Lea pleaded.

"Let's go!" Drex ordered the two, wanting all three of them to follow Xion.

As they made their way to the dark corridor, it suddenly closed off behind Lea, cutting him off Drex and Mona!

"Lea!" Drex reached out but the pyro was gone as well. "Where did they go?!"

"How should I know?" Mona questioned.

Then to both of their surprise, the entire Clock Tower and Train Station area were surrounded with barriers which meant that enemies were approaching.

"We don't have time for this!" Drex stated in frustration, getting ready for the usual horde of Heartless or Nobodies.

"I'm sure you'll make time in your busy schedule..." He coldly spoke as he teleported out of another dark corridor in front of them. "You know... it wasn't exactly hard to track you two down."

"Skyler, back off!" Mona exclaimed as she and Drex summoned their Keyblades.

"Hmph... Mona... how could you bring yourself to help this degenerate?" Xylersk inquired. "I'll give you one chance to make this right for you..."

"Do you really expect me to go back to Xehanort?" She challenged.

**Play the Rinzler Recompiled Battle Theme on a second tab.**

"No... I don't. But if I must...I will break every bone in your body if that is what it will take..." Xylersk declared.

"You won't lay a finger on her!" Drex growled.

"Drex, I can handle him..." Mona comforted.

"I won't let him hurt you..." Drex replied.

"Oh, what's this?" Xylersk sensed. "Is that spark of romance? How interesting..."

"Do you want to fight?!" Mona dared him. "Then let's fight!"

"So eager..." The purple-haired man responded.

"Mona... I'm sorry... but..." Drex apologized.

"For what?" Mona asked.

"For this."

Drex suddenly summoned another dark corridor behind Mona, and he spun around and used an aero spell to blow her into the darkness, making her leave this world for safety...

"Drex!" She called out to as the corridor closed shut behind her.

"I'm sorry Mona... but this is something I need to settle on my own..." Drex turned back to face Skyler...

"Very good... Now she won't interrupt us like last time." Xylersk smirked.

"Last time was different!" Drex firmly held his Keyblade in his hand. "Last time, I didn't lose my friend Roxas. ...Last time, I didn't have friendship AND the love of a girl by my side! ...And last time, I held myself back because I thought I could save you! But I see that you've stepped too far into the darkness... and you've only become a shadow of your former self!"

"...There he is... there is the monster that destroyed our home..." Xylersk taunted. "Those words that you speak of... cut deeper than any wound your Keyblade can inflect. ...But what you say of me, also applies to you!"

"You can't trick me with your mind games..." Drex assured him.

"Can't I?" Xylersk continued. "You shackle your heart to your past... you can't bring yourself to sever the ties to your mistakes and your worst nightmares. You use your own guilt as your punishment... but even from where I stand... that's not enough!"

"You think I had this coming to me?" Drex responded.

"Of course, justice will be served for that world and its people, and I will see it through by destroying you..." Xylersk proclaimed.

"This isn't justice..." Drex shook his head. "This is vengeance... Your mind has been clouded by Xehanort's darkness! He magnified your anger and hate for his own ends!"

"No, he gave me strength... to do what needed to be done..." Xylersk stated.

"So, do you regret any of this then?" Drex inquired.

"...Not yet..." He darkly replied as he summoned his falcata energy swords.

"Then I guess there's nothing else left to say..." Drex stated.

"It seems so... I hope you're ready..." Xylersk darkly said.

"...Let's go Skyler."

The purple-haired man leaped up into the sky and fired multiple shots of darkness at Drex, who was below. Drex effectively block and deflected all of his energy attacks, and he was ready when Skyler came back down in a Quick Biltz motion.

Drex blocked and countered Xylersk's move and successfully landed a blow on his shoulder. He staggered back; impressed by his increased speed and skill, and he fired a firaga spell at Drex. The brunette dodge-rolled out of the way to avoid the fireball, but it obliterated the glass doors which led inside the Station.

Xylersk then made familiar motions with his hands and he used his telekinesis to pick up the shards of glass into the twilight sky above them. The purple-haired man then made it rain down sharp broken glass on Drex. He wasn't going to play any cat-and-mouse this time so he created a shockwave of energy to disintegrate the shards into harmless dust.

Xylersk then dashed at Drex once more and he collided with him. His Keyblade against his energy swords, so just like before, these two were equally determined, but now this time there was going to be a victor.

Drex was about to overcome Xylersk in strength when the latter created a pool of shadows beneath him to disappear into. Drex looked around the Station to find his opponent. Surely, he would not retreat...

Then he spotted him, up on the Clock Tower on the highest ledge... Drex ran for it as Xylersk fired energy beams at Drex from above this time.

Drex dodged and weaved as he ran his way up the Clock Tower. A literal vertical climb for him, but he finally made it to the top. Then the two of them had a duel on that ledge.

Xylersk made a bold thrust with one of his swords and Drex effectively evaded it and disarmed one of his swords. Frustrated, Xylersk made another drastic horizontal swing, but Drex ducked and his opponent was left wide open...

Drex reaped this opportunity with the maximum effect and he thrust his Keyblade into his abdomen...

"No..." Skyler whispered.

Drex then added insult to injury and pulled his blade back out and returned the roundhouse kick to Xylersk head... knocking him out of consciousness...

Xylersk's body swayed for a moment then it fell off the ledge of the Clock Tower, and he was to meet his fate down below...

But at the last possible second, Drex grabbed Skyler's hand, preventing him from falling any further...

Skyler's body was dangling from the tall Clock Tower, and the only thing keeping him from falling for his death was Drex's hand...

If he let go... Xylersk would be gone... for good.

But if he pulled him back up... we don't know...

"What should I do?" Drex asked himself.

* * *

**A/N- Xion couldn't control her power and made Roxas disappear by accident... Will she ever forgive herself? Will Lea and Drex understand? What about Mona, will she and Drex reunite? And what do YOU guys thing Drex should do with Skyler...?  
Let him go?  
Or pull him back up?  
Vote in your reviews and you guys may decide his fate...**


	10. Chapter 10: Retribution

**The Resolve of All**

Chapter 10: Retribution

Skyler's body was dangling from the tall Clock Tower, and the only thing keeping him from falling to his death was Drex's hand...

If he let go... Xylersk would be gone... for good.

But if he pulled him back up... we don't know...

"What should I do?" Drex asked himself. "...I hope I don't regret this..."

Drex pulled the still limp Xylersk back up onto the ledge and out of harm's way. He propped his body up against the wall behind them as Drex began to heal his injuries.

Exhausted himself now, Drex leaned against the wall next to his former opponent and everything was just quiet and peaceful for a while as the two of them faced the twilight sunset.

Then suddenly that silence was broken as Xylersk began to stir...

"What...? I'm alive...?" He gave a puzzling look as he turned his attention to Drex who was beside him. "Why...?"

"It wouldn't be right to let my friend fall like that..." Drex kindly responded.

"I seriously doubt you still consider me your friend." Xylersk meanly stated.

"Then explain to me why I pulled you back up." He responded.

"Tch... because you're an idiot... but it doesn't matter... no matter what happens to me... Xehanort will get his way..." Xylersk stated.

"What do you mean?" Drex inquired.

"We're all just pawns in his game..." He informed him.

"...Even a pawn can take down a King." Drex smartly responded.

"Maybe... in the right position..." And after another minute Xylersk calmly questioned. "...Drex, how were you re-completed?"

"Actually, my Nodody was destroyed trying to protect my friends... and I failed... again." Drex answered. "But from what I've learned, if you're ever going to put your entire being on the line for something... you stick by it... and protect it. No matter what."

"Your newer friends seem very important to you..." Xylersk noted.

"No more than my old ones..." Drex confessed.

"...Good to know." Xylersk gave a ghost of a smile. "And Mona?"

"...She came on to me." Drex smirked.

"...Yeah right." Xylersk chuckled. "What about the others? Mark... Alliana... Fate?"

"I want to help all of you... you all deserve better than this." Drex comforted. "Do you know where they are?"

"No..." He simply said.

Drex decided to change the subject. "When was the last time you saw a sunset like that?"

Xylersk turned his head towards the setting sun and his demeanor seemed much more lax now. "Too long..."

"It's nice... to just sit here and not fight... Am I right?" Drex asked.

Xylersk sighed. "You know, among all of us... I am still a Nobody..."

"That doesn't matter." Drex replied.

"It does to me..." Xylersk stated. "...Drex... can you do me a favor?

"What is it?" Drex warily responded.

"Put an end to me... so that I may be re-completed." He pleaded.

"...Are you sure?" Drex replied.

"Xehanort will recruit me again, so I can't promise we won't fight again in the future... but I need this... please..." He begged.

Drex nodded. "Okay... I'll do it."

Drex stood up as he summoned his Keyblade, and then he pointed it at Xylersk's chest...

"Wait! Before you do this... I need to tell you something!" He stopped him.

"Well spit it out already." Drex responded.

"The Organization... they have certain investigations underway... I don't know what they're about... but they're after something in Radiant Garden." Xylersk informed.

"I sent Mona to Radiant Garden..." Drex realized.

"Then go! Help her..." Xylersk encouraged.

"Thanks... see you on the other side, Skyler..." He smiled in gratitude.

And without even a warning, Drex thrust Sleeping Lion right into Xylersk's chest. It definitely looked like it hurt a lot, but Xylersk returned his expression with a peaceful smile, satisfied knowing that he may get his heart back... And then he faded away back into darkness...

"It took a lot of guts to do that..."

Drex looked around for the sound of the new voice, but from a distant memory he knew who it was. "Not really, the guy tried to kill me twice."

"That guy sounded like he was your friend..."

Then from around the corner of the ledge, out came a young man with silver hair and bluish-green eyes...

"...Riku, what are you doing here?" Drex inquired still tense with his presence for obvious reasons.

"I've been scouting the worlds to monitor the Organization's activities, but I don't know where their stronghold is." Riku explained. "Yen Sid told me all about you and your friends helping out."

"Yeah, we've had better days though." Drex sadly responded.

"It seems like it. So where are you heading now?" Riku asked.

"I have to go back to Radiant Garden first." Drex informed.

"Do you mind if I tag along? You might be onto something by going back there." Riku requested.

It was odd for Drex to hear Riku say that to him; especially since the last time they saw one another it was completely a less than friendly situation.

"Listen, I know this might be a little awkward for you so if you don't want to-" But Riku was cut off.

"No, I wouldn't mind the company. And it's okay. I forgive you for that. You actually did me a favor for destroying my Nobody." Drex forgave.

"Thank you, that means a lot." Riku nodded. "So I hear you're a Keyblade wielder now?"

"Yep, I've been getting pretty good at it too." Drex demonstrated with a swing of his weapon.

"Not bad. Maybe someday you'll be a Master like me." Riku revealed.

"What?! You're a Keyblade Master now?" Drex said dumbfounded. "But aren't you a wielder of darkness or something?"

"Not anymore, I walk the road to dawn." Riku declared.

"Well aren't you just special." Drex joked.

Riku chuckled. "Let's get going to Radiant Garden."

Riku then summoned a corridor of light with his Keyblade and he walked through the portal. Drex followed suit commenting that this pathway was a lot brighter than he was use to...

* * *

Xion stumbled out of her dark corridor and onto the snowy summit of the mountain which resided in The Land of the Dragons.

The cold air hit the raven-haired girl like a train, and she immediately began to shiver as she stumbled in the ankle-deep snow.

Before the dark corridor closed behind her, Lea ran out of it like he was being chased by a ghost. Yet, the freezing altitude had a weaker effect on the pyro since he had a more natural heat within himself, being his element was fire.

"Xion!" Lea addressed the girl. "Stop!"

"Lea..." She wept. "You need to get away from me!"

"But why?!" Lea demanded to know.

"Why indeed...?"

The menacing voice revealed itself via dark corridor as Mark and another hooded figure beside him. Mark gave another smirk at the presence of his company.

"Go on Xion... Tell your friend what you truly are..."

"...! I won't let you control me anymore! I refuse to do anything you say! I refuse!" She declared.

Mark grinned. "It doesn't matter now... for you see; my friend here is my Plan B." He motioned towards the mysterious figure beside him. "Now you... go! Find Mona in Radiant Garden and bring her back to Headquarters. If you fail... don't bother returning. This is your new purpose, fulfill it and you will be greatly rewarded."

The mysterious figure nodded and teleported away into darkness to capture Mona, leaving Mark to contend with Xion and Lea.

**Play the 13****th**** Struggle Battle Theme on a second tab.**

"I've had enough of this!" Lea proclaimed. "I don't care who you are! Anyone who messes with my friends messes with me!"

"I'd be more than happy to oblige your endeavor!" Mark smirked as he summoned countless Heartless around him on the snowy slope of the mountaintop. "Allons-y!"

Xion and Lea summoned their Keyblades and together they clashed with the charging Heartless who rushed them immediately.

Mark charged directly at Lea himself though while Xion could not help but only attack the oncoming Heartless around them.

Lea swung his Keyblade, only to be blocked by one of Mark's swords. Mark then countered by attempting to thrust his second sword in Lea's chest, but Lea engulfed himself in fire magic, dulling the speed of his attack leaving only a scratch. Lea then stepped back and surprisingly swept Mark's feet out from under him. He was about to piece his torso while he was almost defenseless on his back when Mark desperately threw some snow in Lea's eyes. Mark then spun himself back on his feet and disarmed Lea of his Keyblade. Mark then jetted his black sword at Lea's face, but the pyro was able to dodge it and only get another scratch on his arm. Lea then re-summoned his Keyblade and made an uppercut move on Mark, sending him flying back.

Mark then cracked his jaw and gave a frustrated expression as he retreated behind his wall of Heartless minions, and he called on them to advance on his two opponents.

Lunging and slashing, Lea and Xion were barely holding their own against the seemingly endless onslaught of Heartless while Mark was powering up his weapons with an intense dark energy...

"BURN BABY!" Lea exclaimed as he engulfed his Keyblade in fire and pierced his enemies with pure heat and power.

Xion shrouded her Keyblade with a light based energy and just as effectively handled the Heartless as well if not better than Lea.

"You both have admirable skills." Mark commented in the ensuing battle on the peak. "But... can you stop this?!"

Mark had just launched a powerful death ball of darkness at Lea and Xion. Lea had immediately in response summoned a fire barrier to counter the attack. But, the ball fazed through the flames and seemed unaffected at all!

"Lea! I got it!" Xion stated as she moved in front of her friend.

With all of her might, Xion used the power of her Keyblade to successfully deflect Mark's powerful energy ball to the tip-top peak of the mountain up behind them.

"Impossible! How could you still have the strength-?!" But Mark was cut off from the violent tremor.

Apparently, upon impact on the mountaintop, the energy ball caused a great avalanche to occur and seemingly an endless amount of snow was tumbling towards all of them at incredible speeds!

"Xion! We got to get out of here!" Lea warned her.

"No!" Mark exclaimed.

Before any of them knew Mark, Lea, Xion, and the rest of the Heartless were smothered by the white abyss that came down on them all...

* * *

After the cold choas had settled... Xion had dug herself out of the white snow and looked around the white sea for some red hair, and she found him! She ran to Lea where a couple of red spikes had stuck out of the cold powder. She used some fire magic to melt the snow around him and to her relief he was still breathing... but he was unconscious.

Xion then quietly used a healing spell to cure Lea of all of his injuries, and then she created a dark corridor for herself.

"I'm sorry Lea... but... I can never forgive myself for what I did to Roxas... I-I need to go someplace where I'll never hurt anyone again..." She stated sadly as she disappeared into the darkness...

And after a moment or so, Lea had woken up and noticed that he was all alone... Where was Xion? Where was that Mark character? Lea was all by himself again... but he had to keep at it and find his friends...

He pondered out loud as he entered his own corridor. "How did this happen...?"

* * *

**A/N- So, Drex gave Xylersk his heart back by destroying his Nobody and re-completing him. Will they have to fight again in the future though? And Riku accompanies Drex to Radiant Garden to seek out Mona, but who is this mysterious figure hunting her down now? Where will Xion and Lea go? Did Mark survive the avalanche? So many questions... Post your thoughts on any of them via review. Until next time :)**


	11. Chapter 11: An Old Foe Returns

**The Resolve of All**

Chapter 11: An Old Foe Returns

Mona fell out of the dark corridor and landed on the ground at the Postern in Radiant Garden. She rubbed her head in dismay as she watched the corridor of darkness close in front of her.

"Drex!" Mona pouted. "I'm going to kill you if Skyler doesn't do it first!"

She brushed the dust off of her coat as she got back on her feet and attempted to re-summon another dark corridor to get back to Twilight Town... but before she could do that she was interrupted.

"You there! Stop!"

Mona turned to find two very large guards approaching towards her; one was armed with a blue lance and the other a red and black ax.

"We don't take too kindly to anyone wearing that coat now..." Dilan warned her. "Identify yourself, and state your business in the fair city of Radiant Garden!"

Obviously she didn't want to make a scene with the royal guards here. Wasn't she a good guy now? Anyway, she had no choice but to comply with these giant gentlemen.

"It's complicated..." Mona introduced herself. "My name is Mona, and I mean you no harm."

"If that is so... would you accompany us to the Castle to answer some questions, Miss Mona?" Aeleus asked.

"Uhh... okay. As long as it doesn't take too long." She guessed.

"That'll depend entirely on you, little girl." Dilan retorted.

And taking the non-violent path, Mona accompanied Aeleus and Dilan to the grand castle behind them, and eventually they would make it to Wise Ansem's study...

* * *

Isa's feet crunched from the snow with each step he took. He was exasperated from this menial chore he had to complete: find the body. He then scowled when he noticed a young man with black hair struggling to dig himself out of the snow. Isa approached him and decided to question how he could possibly let them escape!

"What happened?" Isa interrogated as he gave him an elixir.

"Avalanche..." Mark simply stated as he drank the healing item.

"Is the puppet still in our control?" The blue-haired man inquired.

"Unfortunately... no." He informed him. "She broke free of my influence."

"Once a defect, always a defect." Isa coldly remarked.

"I've got some good news for you though." Mark perked up slightly.

"And what news would that be?" Isa asked.

"I still command the other one, and he'll bring Mona back to us." Mark said as he shivered from the ensuing cold around him.

"You better hope he succeeds, otherwise the Master and I will punish you for your failures..." Isa leered with deathly intent.

"...I wouldn't expect anything less..." Mark clutched his shoulder as he finally stood up. "But I wouldn't worry; he has been given stronger powers, so Mona will have no choice but to submit."

After a moment of silence, Isa said. "Xylersk has been struck down..."

"What? Who is responsible?!" Mark demanded.

"Your old friend, Drexbann." Isa informed.

"...No way. But, how will we proceed with our plans with only twelve seekers of darkness?!" Mark questioned.

"Fret not, Skyler has been re-completed and awaits his return to our Headquarters from Traverse Town. Secure him, and bring Skyler back to the Master..." Isa ordered.

Mark nodded. "Yes sir."

Mark then teleported away into darkness, leaving Isa on the cold summit all by himself...

But before Isa teleported into darkness as well he commented. "The Master... has made very... poor choices for his latest vessels..."

* * *

Riku and Drex came out of the corridor of light and into the marketplace. The usual residences were walking around casually shopping or socializing, even though unbeknownst to them there was a major crisis occurring among all the worlds.

"Is this where you sent your friend?" Riku inquired.

"Actually, I don't know exactly where I sent here... I just know it was this world." Drex answered.

"Still not much to go on." Riku suggested. "Why don't we split up?"

"If you insist." Drex agreed. "You take the town, and I'll search around the Castle." Drex suggested.

"Alright. Good luck." Riku nodded as he ran through the marketplace towards the houses.

"...I hope Mona doesn't run into trouble... darn! ...I probably jinxed it..." Drex stated as he headed for the Castle.

* * *

"It seems we have a guest, Even." Ienzo got his attention as Dilan, Aeleus, and Mona entered Ansem's Study.

"I'm well aware of the girl in front of us." Even barked. "Now, why have you two brought her here?"

"Look, we haven't seen her before, and she wears the Organization's coat." Dilan retorted.

"And why should I be so concerned?" Even questioned. "Our days as numbers in that group are behind us... although she does look quite fascinating..."

"Fascinating...?" Mona was crept out.

"Yes, her eyes mirror that of Xehanort and even Saix... but maybe with a softer tone..." Ienzo examined.

"Her heart harbors two identities... interesting." Even declared. "I believe that an experiment is in order."

"Why continue the studies of the heart? Ansem the Wise is not even present." Ienzo reasoned.

"I am a scientist, experimenting is what I do best. Besides I am in charge when our Master i absent, so what I say goes." Even explained.

"Whoa whoa whoa, no one is experimenting anything on me. If you even so much as touch me, I'll knock you out." She warned.

"So feisty. Then again, picking and prodding will only get me so far." Even replied. "Perhaps a more practical approach will be necessary..."

"If you're going to skip the ethics, why not throw rationale out the window as well?" Ienzo said in a slightly sarcastic tone.

"You guys are really not that hospitable!" Mona angrily stated.

"We all know you are the dangerous one though." Aeleus surprisingly spoke.

"Exactly, I'm sorry little girl, but anyone aligned or connected to Xehanort is a threat to this world and all worlds." Even proclaimed.

Suddenly, the room turned completely black, shrouded in darkness. One by one, the struggles of the blinded apprentices were quelled and in the darkened study, everyone but Mona fell unconscious and the secret door to the Computer Room was opened. Mona could barely make out a shadow running out of the study room, so she decided to ditch these creeps and thank her possible savior.

Mona followed suit and soon found herself in the Computer Room. She looked around and saw that she was all alone...

"Where did that guy go? No way was that my imagination..." She thought out loud.

Then out the window, she witnessed a mysterious figure down below on the large platform in the former Heartless Manufactory... Determined to know who it was that helped her, she immediately summoned a dark corridor and Mona quickly teleported herself to the large platform below, and she found herself standing in front of hooded character.

"Who are you?" Mona asked.

"..."

"You helped me out with those weirdos upstairs... Do I know you?" She inquired.

"...No. I've never seen you before... but are you Mona?"

"And what if I am Mona? You got a bone to pick with her?" She cautiously responded.

"...Your allies sent me to collect you."

"I never said I was her!" Mona retorted.

"But you are her nevertheless. Your eyes are the dead giveaway..."

"Darn..." She replied. "Then why don't you tell me who you are? It's only common courtesy to know my opponent's face since you're not going to take me back without a fight!"

Mona summoned her Keyblade and gave a determined face, clearly expressing her distaste for returning to the Organization.

"You want to fight huh? Then this will be more thrilling that I expected." He stated as he let down his hood, revealing his face, and summoned his own weapon...

_Soul Eater..._

**Play the Force in You or Forze Del Male Battle Theme on a second tab.**

There in a black coat... was Riku... standing before Mona...

"I'll prove to them I'm more than just a replica..." Repliku whispered to himself. "More than just a shadow of him..."

"Come on then!" Mona lunged.

The two of them clashed with one another. Mona collided with Repliku's Soul Eater only to be immediately repelled by the weapon.

She then leaped back and quickly fired multiple fire spells at her opponent. Repliku merely smirked in response as he launched a dark firaga spell in return. The black flame ball engulfed her fire spells and threatened to burn her alive! But at the last second, she conjured up a powerful blizzard spell to counter the dark fire which upon impact neutralized the two elements.

Repliku then dashed at the girl, his intent on subduing her still prominent in his resolve. He tried to wound her, but she was just too quick for him. Mona then decided to use her speed to her advantage and swiftly flanked her opponent and struck him many times. After her combo was complete, Repliku returned with a combo of his own and he slashed and hit Mona several times. Yet, the finishing blow never made contact since Mona was so agile.

Mona panted. "He's pretty tough... I better go all out!"

Suddenly, Mona activated her hidden powers and her Keyblade disappeared and she enveloped herself in a bright blue aura. Then she was accompanied by six swords of light that hovered behind her in a wing-like formation. Her Wingblade ability...

She dashed towards the Riku Replica, using her six light swords performed incredible and inescapable combos!

Repliku was barely able to dodge the last charged spin attack but then Mona threw hers light swords into the ground, creating a circular magic emblem made of light. Mona then landed in the center of the swords as a brilliant shockwave of light greatly damaged her enemy with an explosion!

After the light had faded, Repliku was only on one knee, it seemed he had barely survived the powerful attack...

"No way... I'm going to lose... My entire existence... hinges on this battle..." Repliku confessed.

"...I sorry but I'm not going back..." Mona retorted.

"I refuse... to lose..." Repliku began to steam off an ominous dark power. "...You have no idea what it's like to be a fake..."

"No I don't. But really... what does it mean to be a fake?" Mona inquired.

"What...?" He said caught off guard.

"Only you can ultimately decide who you are." She smartly responded.

"..."

Repliku's Soul Eater began to glow with a deadly black energy while his left hand was enveloped with an orb of dark electrifying fire!

"Then I decide that I am the one who will bring you back Organization!" He declared. "Darkness!"

To Mona's dismay, Repliku had gone all out now, and he was so fast that she didn't even see him! Mona could only wait on the defensive as she held her Keyblade on guard now.

...But it was futile...

Repliku was just too powerful and too fast that he always found a hole in her defense to take advantage of and strike her.

Whatever attack she sent in response, he merely dodged or blocked it with ease. Mona was in trouble, she had to escape him somehow...

Almost in a panic, Mona summoned a dark corridor to retreat from the battle, but before she could take another step, Repliku stopped her by grabbing her by the throat!

He slowly lifted her off her feet and began strangling her! She dropped her Keyblade from the pain and agony as the energy from Repliku's hand was burning and electrifying her at the same time with the power of darkness.

"Let... go... of... me..." Mona pleaded as she was slipping into out of consciousness.

"Not a chance. Once you're back with your pals, I'll be tasked with hunting down that Drex character next. He'll fall... just like you." Repliku smirked. "You wouldn't happen to know where he is, would ya?"

"I'm right here."

"AAARRRGGHH!"

Drex just came swooping in, Keyblade in hand, as he smashed Repliku across the platform like a rag-doll. Mona fell to the ground, but Drex caught her from slamming her head.

"Now we're even." Drex grinned.

"You're such jerk..." Mona smiled as she slipped into unconsciousness.

Drex then examined Mona's opponent and was astonished by his appearance.

"An exact copy of Riku..." Drex perceived.

Repliku slowly got back up still reeling from the impact of Drex's attack and his expression went to a surprised one at the presence of another opponent. Surely, with his strength exhausted now because of Mona, he couldn't take on another fight... but failure is not an option either...

"I'm not an exact copy! I am a model of what he should be!" Repliku stated.

"I don't care what you are! Anyone who messes with Mona messes with me!" Drex growled.

"You'll also have to deal with me..."

Master Riku then made his location known as he leaped down from the Computer Room level and down onto the platform.

"No! Anyone but you!" Repliku hissed with hate.

"Whatever happened to be a loyal replica to the very end?" Riku inquired.

"I said that on death's door. I've been recreated from leftover data and been given a second chance." Repliku clarified.

"Then it looks like you blew it." Riku simply stated.

"I... no..." Repliku conceded defeat. "I can't return... I've failed..."

Then with that last of his available dark power, Repliku created a dark corridor and he was whisked away into the darkness... now a fugitive himself...

"Is she okay Drex?" Riku asked in concern.

Drex examined Mona's condition. "She's alright, just tired."

"Good." Riku responded. "You seem to care for her."

"Yeah. I do." Drex admitted.

"Let her rest up there in the Computer Room. I've explained to Ienzo and the others that you're friendly. When she's up to it, both of you head back to Yen Sid's Tower." Riku instructed.

"Alright thanks, what are you going to do?" Drex questioned.

"I need to visit King Mickey. Then I'll meet you at the Master Yen Sid's." Riku replied.

"See you later then." He waved off.

"Until then." Riku said as he left via corridor of light.

* * *

Here in the world of Halloween Town, everything was dark and spooky, but nothing seemed scarier than Vanitas and his usual stare, leaning against a tombstone in the nearby graveyard. And Fate had just teleported into the graveyard and approached her partner in crime.

"So Fate... do you have any leads?" Vanitas casually inquired.

"How about a definite location?" She smugly smirked.

"I knew you were the right person for the job." Vanitas grinned. "Where's Kairi?"

"At Master Yen Sid's Tower." Fate answered.

"...Hmph. Then we're going to have to wait." Vanitas crossed his arms.

"What? Why?" Fate asked.

"That old man's magic won't let us near that place. According to the Master, his magic is too powerful for us to enter without them knowing." Vanitas explained. "As soon as she leaves though, we'll strike when she's most vulnerable."

"Sounds good. And when that happens, Kairi can be put with the rest of the princesses and open the door to darkness." Fate confirmed.

"That's the idea." Vanitas responded.

"What do you want to do until then?" Fate questioned. "Head back to Headquarters?"

"I'm sure we can use our time a bit better than that~" Vanitas smirked.

"What are you implying?" Fate rolled her eyes.

"The true fact that good girls like bad boys." He grinned.

"...When did I ever hint that I was a good girl?" She poked back.

"Prove me wrong then." Vanitas challenged.

"Nah..." Fate teased. "Wouldn't want to make it too easy~"

Vanitas chuckled. "Are you playing hard to get? ...My favorite game."

Fate then playfully flicked Vanitas's nose and summoned a corridor of darkness. "Tag, you're it."

* * *

Xion had arrived at her self-imposed exile... an eerie domain where all who came here were eventually lost...

"This place is perfect for me..."

In this place, to find is to lose and to lose is to find. That is the way of things in Castle Oblivion...

* * *

**A/N- Repliku has been defeated and is now on the run. Drex and Mona have reunited and Riku carries on. Xion had placed herself in Castle ****Oblivion, but what about the others? Will Mark pay for Repliku's failure? What will happen next? Also, Sora will return soon as well from his training... Reviews=Updates :)**

Note: I'm saving Mona's Official Battle theme for a future fight so don't worry. Fate will have a fight soon too.


	12. Chapter 12: Lost and Found

**The Resolve of All**

Chapter 12: Lost and Found

**-Roxas's POV-**

**Play Roxas Theme regular or Final Mix on a second tab.**

I was wandering... just walking through the darkness...

Who am I... was my first thought. I honestly don't really remember anything before I woke up here...

It was just so dark in this place... I couldn't even see my hand in front of my face. Wait a second, I think I'm wearing black gloves...

What a joke! Why is it so freaking dark in here?!

Suddenly images and pictures began to flash in my mind... My memories maybe...?

A tall young man with spiky red hair, an older teen with brown hair and brown eyes, and a girl with black hair and blue eyes... who were they?

I certainly had no clue, maybe I'll just focus at the matter at hand and just start on figuring myself out first...

"Oh?" I noticed a dim light in the distance... "Some light... that's a chance of pace..."

As soon as I made my way to the beacon of light, I also began to hear... water? waves? At least that's what I think the sound they would make.

And I was right! It looked like I had arrived at a beach in a night setting, but oddly enough there was a weakly-shining sun off towards the far horizon.

"End of the line, huh..." I shrugged.

This place felt far more welcoming than the deep blackness behind me though. Maybe I could make a raft or swim for it? No... it looks like there's an entire ocean between me and anything else.

"...Heh... So now what?" I wondered.

"Why hello there, it's not often we get visitors..."

I nearly yelped at the presence of the other voice. I turned to the right and noticed a man in a black coat sitting on a rock like it was a chair, and he was staring out at sea. Hold on, I looked at his outfit then finally my own... we had the same kind of coat on which was weird... But this guy also sounded old and wise and meant no harm to me. Maybe he could answer some of my questions...

"Hi." I simply said. "Who are you?"

"...I apologize dear boy, but I fear that most of my own memories have been washed away by these shores. I simply have no recollection to who am I or where I came from..." The older man replied.

"Well that makes two of us." I smiled in comfort knowing I wasn't the only one lost here.

"Really? ...Hmm. No... I don't believe so..." He pondered.

"What? What is it?" My curiosity had gotten the better of me.

"If you're still here. That means that you still possess your own heart." He revealed.

"My heart?" I placed one hand over my chest.

"It took me so long to realize that hearts are beyond scientific understanding. Everywhere we look, they're always around..." He gave a small grin under his hood. "A heart is never lost for good... So don't you worry, I have confidence that eventually we'll have ourselves a new beginning..."

"Our birth by sleep..." A woman with blue hair finished his statement as she just woke up from her nap from around a rock. Her eyes widened and her expression looked like she just witnessed a miracle. "VEN!"

I could only get out saying 'what?' before this woman ran towards me and gave the tightest hug I could ever imagine! ...But to be honest, the human contact was refreshing.

"Ven! I'm so happy to see you." She looked like she was on the verge of tears. "How did you wake up? What are you wearing?!"

"Aqua, give the boy some space so he can breath. He has confided in me that he has lost his memories as well." The older man informed.

"Ven... you... you don't remember me? It's me, Aqua... your friend?" She introduced herself to me.

"...I... I have no clue. I don't think I've ever met you before. I'm sorry Aqua." I apologized.

Aqua shook her head and denied my excuse. "You look just like him. You are him, there's no mistaking it, Ventus."

"Ventus? That's my name?" I asked.

"Yeah. Ven for short." She clarified.

"I want to believe you Aqua, but it... it just doesn't sound right." I retorted.

"Trust me, you're exactly how I remember him... I'm just so glad that you're safe..." She consoled with a motherly tone.

"Okay..." I accepted, finally returning the hug.

"Aqua, what were you doing before you met our new friend here?" The old man inquired.

"I was tired of waiting... I decided to throw my master's Keyblade into the ocean, and I put a spell on it to seek out Sora." She informed him.

"Whether that is a foolish or a wise tactic, I commend you on taking the initiative nevertheless. Perhaps the boy will find it and become our savior..." The old man wished.

Sora... That name struck the deepest depths of my heart. Sora sounded really important and he looked like he was our only hope of getting out of this realm of despair and darkness.

I piped up. "How long until this Sora guy saves us?"

Suddenly, I noticed that Aqua had pulled out some sort of star-shaped glass-blue charm. I could tell just from the look on her face that she held that talisman near and dear to her heart. "Not long Ven... hopefully very soon..."

* * *

**-No one's POV, (3rd person)-**

Drex had hauled Mona from the Heartless Manufactory to the Computer Room, a pretty simply task until she started squirming.

"What are you doing?! Put me down!" Mona whined.

Admittedly, Drex had her slung over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes, but he merely chuckled at the humor of her complaint and he responded by swinging her into a bridal-style position.

"Better?" He asked.

Mona blushed. "I can walk you know."

"Can you?" Drex placed her down on her feet, and she shouted in pain once she placed some weight on her left ankle and she just collapsed. "Okay, guess you can't."

They both made it up to the Computer Room, which was an odd place to rest, but since Riku went through the trouble, they didn't mind. Drex propped up Mona against the nearby wall and went to work to heal her injuries.

"How did you know I was her?" Mona questioned.

"I guessed." Drex grinned.

"You're lucky then." Mona commented.

"Actually, I think you're the lucky one. I think I arrived just in the nick of time." Drex replied.

"Well, thank you my knight in shining armor." She smiled.

"Anytime." He responded as he completed healing her. "So, you want to rest a bit or do you want to head to Master Yen Sid's now?" Drex inquired.

"I'd rather pick door number three~" She smirked as she leaned in.

Drex kissed her again, and for a while, everything thing else just melted away and it was just the two of them having another moment to themselves... but unfortunately that lovely bliss was shattered into a million pieces...

They broke apart as a dark corridor appeared in front of them, right next to the console's keyboard, and a very familiar yet unwelcoming man walked out of the darkness and revealed himself...

"My my... What a heart-wrenching scene. Both reborn through the darkness and on the path to redemption only to ensure your painful fates and create more woe and despair..."

"Xemnas, what are you doing here?!" Drex growled as he summoned his Keyblade.

"...I came here of my own volition to retrieve a certain... memento, but from what I can surmise, the replica has failed his mission and now I find myself in the position to achieve what he did not." Xemnas calmly responded.

"You're not taking Mona!" Drex declared. "You'll have to get through me!"

"The heart wants what the heart wants, I make no mistake of that. But, ever since the beginning the heart has remained an enigma to us all. Those who have attempted to research and map out this profound part that makes us who we are, have had results which remained inconclusive or inadequate." Xemnas continued. "Over the years as Superior of Organization XIII, I have searched countless worlds in our great sky... looking for answers... And then I found your world..."

"What...?" They both were at a loss for words...

"A very curious world at that. One worth investigating and exploring in particular. In that world... I found six hearts worthy of a greater purpose. And so I connected that world to darkness and placed an inevitable curse to trigger its obliteration... and here you are..." Xemnas revealed.

"It... it was you...?" Drex questioned. "It was you who did this to us?!"

"Indeed..." Xemnas confirmed with a slight smirk.

"W-why...?" Mona asked.

"...Your futures are all that matter now... and I will have to make sure you do not stray from your destines again..." Xemnas proclaimed with a motion of his hand.

Suddenly, the floor beneath Drex and Mona had turned to blackness and they both began to sink like it was quicksand!

"Argh! No! I can't get free!" Drex struggled as he continued to sink.

"Neither can I!" She yelled as she grasped Drex's hand.

Xemnas remained stoic as the two of them were completely enveloped by the darkness and they will eventually go to where they belonged... He then turned his attention to the computer console and pulled out a disk from his pocket and inserted it into the machine. Xemnas then typed in the six passwords like he always did before... The disk popped back out and he continued his errand by descending down back to the Heartless Manufacturary.

And down below, another secret entrance revealed itself, and almost automatically, Xemnas made his way to finally take what he wanted to retrieve...

He entered the white chamber and approached the special mementos of his goal...

"It's been a long time... my friend..."

* * *

Sora had finally exited from the Realm of Sleep, and he gave a goofy yet confidant grin at the progress he had made in his training, giving himself a pat on the back.

"I hope everybody isn't too mad that I've been gone for so long." Sora thought out loud. "But I'm sure Riku and Kairi will understand, same with the others."

Oddly enough, Sora chose to come out into the Destiny Islands first before he went back to Master Yen Sid's. This might have been the last time he could visit his home anyway so who could blame him?

Then surprisingly, out of the corner of his eye... there was something metal sparkling in the sand.

"Huh...?" Sora said confused as to what it was.

The brunette scuffled through most of the length of the beach until he was able to pick up the curious... wait a second, this looks like a Keyblade!

The Keyblade had a smooth, cylindrical, grey shaft that tapers outward at both ends. It had a boxy guard, made up of two small, light grey boxes and copper rod. The base of the guard connects to the grip, and both sport several small indentations lining them. The teeth are in the shape of an "E". Its keychain is made of several simple chain links and its token is the Mark of Mastery symbol.

"What is this doing here?" Sora thought as he peered out towards the ocean...

* * *

**A/N- I tried writing in the first person for the first time, what did you guys think? I also incorporated the KH3 teaser trailer in this too. Take a simple guess what Xemnas took... And what happened to Drex and Mona, where did they go? Stay tuned and find out what happens next!**

**Until next chapter :)**


	13. Chapter 13: A Dark Excursion

**The Resolve of All**

Chapter 13: A Dark Excursion

"Kairi...?"

She was so drowsy from her previous encounters. With all of the dangers in the world, it was just a little easier to sleep a little longer...

"Kairi... I need to talk to you..."

"Huh...?"

"Please... listen..."

Kairi then found herself in a bright white room... It seemed like a safe place... She turned her head slightly and noticed a girl who looked remarkably similar to herself, but with angelic blond hair... She was wearing what looked like a white night gown and sandals...

"Kairi... do you remember who I am?" She asked.

A single name wandered into her mind. "Namine...?"

"Yes." Namine confirmed with a nod and a smile. "Kairi... I need to tell you something... something important."

"Alright." Kairi began to listen intently.

"The connections we have to other people are the key..." Namine revealed. "A long time ago... some things happened... and three friends were torn apart and they all met tragic ends..."

"That sounds familiar..." Kairi mentioned.

"Kairi... You need to help them too." Namine stated.

"Who were these people?" Kairi inquired.

Namine tilted her head to the side and gave a little giggle. "You actually met one of them a long time ago... so did Riku and Sora."

Then a memory flashed back in Kairi's mind... this blue-haired woman was protecting her from these monsters and the King was there too...

"I remember now! Her name was Aqua and I gave her flowers and I..." Kairi trailed off touching the charm necklace around her neck.

"That's right." Namine confirmed. "It's because of Aqua that you can wield a Keyblade, and also it was because of her that you were led to Sora."

"What?"

"Whenever you're in trouble your light will lead you to another... remember?" Namine reminded.

"Yeah... she sensed that I was important and she was right..." Kairi smiled.

"I know this may be dangerous... but you and Sora need to find her." Namine responded.

"Find her? Where is she?" Kairi pried.

"Aqua has been lost in the darkness for over a decade... but you'll need her for the trials ahead." Namine informed her. "Your friends will know where to start... good luck..."

And the dream began to fade... but just before she woke up Kairi shouted. "Namine! What about you?!"

WAAM!

Then she woke up with a jerk and her head slammed against something real hard and it really hurt!

"Owowowowowow." She rubbed her head.

"Geez Kairi, and you thought I had thick head."

That familiar voice perked the red-head to her senses, and she was met with a boy with a goofy grin while he was rubbing his forehead where she had hit him.

"Sora!" She hugged him. "I'm glad you're back."

"Uhh... I'm glad you're here too Kairi." Sora returned the hug.

They both were in the room next to Yen Sid's Study, Kairi was still snoozing so Sora came in to check on her, slamming heads was not what he had in mind though.

"Kairi, are you okay?" Sora asked.

"As long as I'm with you..." She whispered. "Oh! I'm fine Sora."

"Yen Sid said he needs to talk to us; come on." Sora grabbed her hand getting her off the cot.

The two teens let themselves into the study to find the familiar sorcerer sitting in his usual chair staring at the Keyblade Sora dropped off on the table. Kairi and Sora then noticed that Lea was here as well, but he looked saddened and depressed, was he alright? The three of them took their place to listen to what the former Keyblade Master had to say.

"Hmmm..." Yen Sid scowled at the situation at hand. "...This Keyblade belonged to an old friend of mine by the name of Master Eraqus..."

"Who's that?" Sora inquired.

"Someone who I thought was struck down long ago by Xehanort, but this Keyblade may prove otherwise..." Yen Sid replied.

"I just found it lying there in the sand back in Destiny Islands." Sora responded. "Do you think it could mean anything?"

"It could mean everything." Yen Sid retorted. "It is definitely a clue on what we should do next."

"What we need to do is find my friends." Lea piped up with a grimace.

"Lea, I have already told you that Roxas, Xion, and Drex are lost-!"

"They're not gone!" Lea hissed. "I was just with them! They can't have just disappeared! Use your all powerful magic or something!"

"I cannot. The darkness interferes with my magic and divination." Yen Sid responded. "We must focus at the matter at hand, and find more guardians of light to combat Xehanort."

"Easy for you to say..." Lea calmed back down but still seemed flustered.

"Master Yen Sid?" Kairi piped up.

"Yes?" He turned his attention to her.

"I think we should look for a woman named Aqua." Kairi stated.

"Aqua?" Lea and Sora said in unison.

Yen Sid nodded and remembered from Mickey's theories and tales that she could be saved next. "Indeed we shall, and this Keyblade is proof."

"How so?" Sora questioned.

"Before Aqua was lost from the Realm of Light, she became a Keyblade Master herself and I can only assume that this blade was what she wielded. If I may further theorize, she cast this weapon aside as a clue to her location." Yen Sid explained. "Across an ocean this weapon has traveled, the shores of the Realm of Darkness is the only place she could be..."

"Then I'll go and find her." Sora volunteered.

"Not a chance." Lea replied. "You won't last two minutes without me saving you."

"So be it." Yen Sid stated. "Lea... be Sora's guide in the darkness and bring Aqua back to us. Consider this your make-up, if you're successful Sora... I will dub you a true Keyblade Master..."

"Really? Well then you better believe that I'm ready this time!" Sora gave a smug grin.

"And after that, we can look for my friends too." Lea pressed.

"Of course." Sora agreed.

"What about me? Can I go?" Kairi chimed in.

"No... It wouldn't be safe. Xehanort and his forces are short one princess, you're simply too crucial to be wandering the dark realm." Yen Sid stated.

"But I can fight! And I'll have Sora and Lea by my side!" Kairi pleaded. "I've played the helpless little girl long enough... let me do my part!"

"Kairi..." Sora was impressed by her spirit.

"...Hmmm... very well." Yen Sid nodded. "If you've felt so strongly about this, perhaps this is the best course of action. But I must warn you... Heartless, Nobodies, and the Organization will all attempt to do you harm, be vigilant."

"We will." Kairi noted and thanked the sorcerer.

"I can create a corridor directly into the Realm of Darkness, let's go." Lea motioned.

"Come on Kairi." Sora grabbed her hand.

"Farewell." Yen Sid waved off.

* * *

"WAK!" He quaked.

"What's wrong Donald?" Goofy asked while he found the court wizard in the library of Disney Castle.

"The King is back in the sleeping worlds!" Donald informed.

"Sleeping worlds? Did he go to take a nap?" Goofy responded.

"No! He's been missing!" Donald quaked some more. "We have to find him!"

"What's going on?"

Riku had let himself into the library because of the conversation he heard between the two. "Where's the King?"

"Ask him yourself." Donald pointed to the tiny cricket on the desk.

"Oh! You're Riku; Cricket's the name, Jiminy Cricket. And I saw the whole thing." Jiminy stated. "The King and I were discussing something and a portal opened up and he deduced it led to the Realm of Sleep."

"And he just ran off?" Riku inquired.

"Well... portals don't usually open up by themselves you know, so the King went to investigate." Jiminiy replied. "He does have quite a habit of doing that..."

"Looks like we should check up on him." Goofy stated.

"No. I'll go find him by myself." Riku responded.

"No! We are going to help too!" Donald quacked. "Goofy and I are tired of being on the sidelines, we're coming too. End of discussion."

"Well alright then. Let's go find the King." Goofy grinned.

Riku chuckled as he made a portal to the Realm of Sleep. "Fine, let's go."

"Kind of an unlikely trio if you ask me," Jiminy shrugged. "Good luck!"

* * *

Skyler was complete again, thanks to his friend... but everything seemed the same. He looked exactly like his Nobody, but his earrings were gone.

He contemplated his purpose as he roamed a hallway in their headquarters. What was he supposed to do? Just carry out Xehanort's wishes like a good little boy?

"This is wrong... what are we doing...?" He whispered.

Just then Mark had turned a corner and bumped into Skyler. "Oh, it's you."

"What's going on?" Skyler inquired.

"Well..." Mark rubbed his neck. "I've got good news and bad news."

"What's the good news?" Skyler replied.

"Mona has returned and I won't be destroyed for the replica's failure." Mark informed him.

"Mona...? Okay... what's the bad news?"

"She's not being very cooperative..." Mark responded. "Saix had to... teach her a lesson..."

"What do you mean?" Skyler pried. "And what happened to Drex?"

"He... was part of the lesson..." Mark answered.

"Tell me." Skyler demanded.

Mark sighed. "They're going to break him Skyler... I don't like it but... they're making him suffer... If Mona doesn't help us... if any of us don't help Xehanort..."

"They're going to kill him." Skyler finished.

"...Yeah. It's a real shame. I still want to consider him my friend but... what do they get out of torturing him...?"

"Our loyalty, but it can't be helped even though he doesn't deserve this... *chuckle* You know Mona fell for him?" Skyler mentioned.

"Tch, I saw that coming a mile away." Mark grinned. "...But anyway... The Master says that war is coming very soon... so... what are you going to do?"

"...I know exactly what I'm going to do."

* * *

The Realm of Darkness was cold and dark... as it should be... It seemed to be covered by a thick mist, and surrounded by twisted, dark trees in the background. A mysterious vortex is seen in the distance, surrounded by dark thorns.

Kairi, Lea, and Sora were cautiously wandering the Dark Realm, on guard for anything that might jump out and attack.

"Have either of you two been here before?" Lea advised. "Whatever you do, don't stop moving or the darkness will overtake you."

"Kairi's a princess of heart right? So her heart is full of pure light, she'll be safe." Sora replied.

"Heartless will be drawn to her like crazy, not to mention we all have Keyblades..." Lea groaned.

"What was that?!" Sora pointed as they all summoned their own Keyblades, Kairi's being Destiny's Embrace.

"What was what?!" She questioned.

"I think there's something behind that rock..." Sora noticed. "...I'm going to check it out. Watch my back."

"Sora, be careful." Kairi prayed.

"Just be quick about it." Lea reluctantly agreed.

Sora made his way near the huge rock and disappeared from his friends' sight as he searched the other side of it. Moments passed and anxiety had risen... what was taking him so long?

"Sora? Are you alright?" Kairi's voice was filled worry.

"Stay close. Let's see if he's okay." Lea consoled.

Kairi agreed as they slowly headed closer and closer to the boulder in question when suddenly...!

"Guys! I'm alright!" Sora grinned as he revealed himself from the other side of the rock.

"Oh... thank goodness... I was really worried Sora!" Kairi pouted.

"Aww... I'm sorry... will this make up for it~?" Sora grinned.

Before Kairi could even react, the brunette advanced towards, tipped her chin upwards and kissed her...

Surprised at this gesture, Kairi stiffened at first then melted into his arms, happily returning the kiss.

"Uhh... you two really think this is the time to be... you know what, never mind, I'm used to it by now." Lea tried his best to ignore him until they finished up.

As they were still in a passionate embrace, Kairi was running out of air so she tried to end this blissful moment and pull away... but Sora forcibly pulled her back in and tried to French-kiss her.

Kairi resisted, wondering why Sora was so aggressive in the first place... and then suddenly Sora pulled away and grabbed Kairi's throat.

"What? No tongue?" He smirked.

Kairi choked. "Sora... what are you doing...?!"

"Sora! Let go of her!" Lea dashed at them intent on separating the two.

But then Lea was blocked by a barrier that had formed between them, so his attempt to stop him was quelled.

...Then the illusion was dispelled and Sora's clothes and hair had changed...

"No..." Kairi cried.

"Oh... looks like the little girl has lost her way..."

Those sweet sky-blue eyes had faded and evil golden orbs took their place...

"I'd be more than happy to take you away from here..." And then Vanitas just laughed...

* * *

**A/N- Cliffhanger! Donald and Goofy are finally off the bench! But why did Mickey enter the Realm of Sleep? What could be happening to Drex and what is Skyler going to do? And Vanitas... he's real bad here... Reviews=Update :)**


	14. Chapter 14: Within the Shadows

**The Resolve of All**

**A/N- You guys enjoy this slightly extra-long chapter.**

Chapter 14: Within the Shadows

**Play the 13****th**** Dilemma Battle Theme on a second tab.**

"No..." Kairi cried.

"Oh... looks like the little girl has lost her way..."

Those sweet sky-blue eyes had faded and evil golden orbs took their place...

"I'd be more than happy to take you away from here..." And then Vanitas just laughed...

"Let go of me!" Kairi hissed.

Kairi then re-summoned Destiny's Embrace and she swung it and slashed into Vanitas's arm. The raven-haired boy let out a yelp of pain as he released his hostage. Kairi then jumped back and got ready to face down her opponent, while Lea on the opposite side of the barrier had to contend with another foe.

"Vanitas, looks like she's grown some claws," Fate took a stance against Lea with her own Keyblade, the Two Become One... "I'll deal with Flamsilocks here."

"Vanitas...? Why do you look like Sora?!" Kairi demanded.

"Does it really matter?" Vanitas smirked.

"Yes it does!" She fumed.

"Not my fault I did what the wimp wouldn't dare to do..." He licked his lips sensually.

"You freak!" Kairi yelled. "What did you do to Sora?!"

"I'm right here."

"What?!"

"You think a bump on the head is going to keep me down?" Sora smirked.

"I guess I'll have to hit harder next time." Vanitas growled.

"Whoa... it's like looking in a mirror... an evil mirror." Sora noted.

"How little you know... it's almost sickening..." Vanitas responded as he summoned Void Gear. "Why don't you two show me what you got? ...Let's have some fun..."

Vanitas dashed towards the girl first, but Sora intercepted and blocked his dark double. Holding him in place now, Kairi took the opportunity to get around them and strike at Vanitas's back. The raven-haired boy jumped up high into the air to avoid her attack and then he launched a ball of darkness down on the two!

Sora immediately responded with a reflecting spell to null the energy bomb, and he grabbed Kairi to put some distance between them and Vanitas.

"What's wrong?" Vanitas taunted. "Giving up already?"

"Not a chance!" Sora growled back.

Sora then dashed and locked Keyblades with Vanitas. It was so weird for Sora to fight someone with the same face as him... it was like fighting an evil twin. What's this guy's deal?

The two of them clashed with nearly equal power, blocking and deflecting each other, giving it everything they got it. Shockwaves of power had permeated throughout the area they were in...

But somehow, Vanitas got the upper hand and countered Sora with a powerful combo which left him weakened and on the ground.

"You leave Sora alone!" Kairi bellowed as she fired a blizzard spell at Vanitas.

The dark double of Sora saw the ice magic coming and merely slashed through the weakly formed magic like it was nothing. He smirked, seeing that his mission was near success.

"Kairi... run!" Sora pleaded.

"I won't! You never abandoned me Sora... so now it's my turn!"

Vanitas laughed. "Please... look where you are... Who's going to help you now?"

"I am."

"What...? You again?!"

Kairi turned her head and all she saw a blur of blue...

Meanwhile, on the other side of the barrier which divided the fight, we see Lea in his own predicament.

"So you're another one of Drex's friends..." Lea assumed.

"Fate's the name... And if I'm right... you beat Mark... so you must be real strong..."

"You think I'm strong now... you haven't seen anything yet." Lea stated.

"Then feel free to start the show, Lea."

She charged at the pyro, Keyblade in hand. She slashed at his left, but Lea dodged it with ease and spun around and hit Fate in the back of her neck. Fate jumped back and fired a thunder spell from the tip of her Keyblade and actually shocked Lea pretty good.

Lea quickly recovered from the stunning effects and responded with a fireball aimed at Fate. She smirked as she batted away the fire spell like it was nothing, but using the spell as a cover Lea was behind the fire and caught Fate with her guard down.

Lea made a horizontal slash at Fate, but she dodged it at the last second with only a small scratch on her cheek as a result. She gritted her teeth as she resumed her battle stance.

"Why don't you tell me where my friends are? What did you do to them?!" Lea demanded.

"...I didn't do anything." Fate replied. "But let's just say they were removed from the equation."

"You know... I made a promise... that I'll always be there to bring them back!" Lea declared.

"-!" Fate had a memory flash back... back from her home world... She and her friends were always together... what had happened to them? "...I'm jealous..."

"What are you talking about?" Lea surprisingly inquired.

"I wish it was like before... but... that's not going to happen, I'm just going have to make the best of what I have now!" Fate proclaimed.

"...You seem like a decent person, more so than some of the others I've met. From what I've already seen... the path you're going down... is not the right one." Lea stated.

"And what makes you think what I'm doing is wrong?" Fate questioned.

"Because... Xehanort is just using you. You're noting but an empty vessel he can use to his own ends." Lea reasoned. "Listen to me; it doesn't have to be this way!"

"...Maybe-!"

But Fate had been cut off because another familiar Keyblade came out from nowhere and struck her in the head, effectively knocking her out.

"Who's there?!" Lea defended himself.

"It's you... Axel."

A boy in a black coat with his hood up stepped forward from the dark shadows beyond and confronted the pyro.

"That voice... is it... you?" Lea's eyes widened at the realization. "Roxas?!"

"...Roxas. I've been told my name was Ventus..."

The boy let down his hood to reveal his gravity-defying spiky blonde hair and those blue eyes. No doubt about it in Lea's mind, this was Roxas.

"...How do I know you...?" Roxas rubbed his head struggling to remember.

"Come on buddy. How could you forget me?" Lea responded jokingly. "I'm Lea now. Got it memorized?"

"...Got it memorized...?" Roxas repeated. "...My head hurts..."

And without further warning, Roxas lost consciousness and dropped to the ground like a rock. Lea went to his side and took note that Roxas didn't exactly remember him... maybe he'll recover with time...

Suddenly, Lea noticed the barrier between him and the others had disappeared, and he saw Vanitas get back off the ground then he went to Fate's still unconscious body.

"You better watch your backs. Next time... you won't be so lucky." Vanitas warned as he disappeared via dark corridor with Fate...

And without further ado, Sora, Kairi, and Aqua had made their way over to Lea and Roxas with victorious grins on their faces.

"The Dark Realm seems a lot brighter now." Aqua welcomed the new company and motioned towards Sora and Kairi. "They grow up so fast..."

"Oh! Wait a minute, isn't that Roxas?" Sora pointed out.

"No, that's Ventus." Aqua corrected.

"Umm, do you mind we just get out of here?" Kairi asked.

"Yeah, someplace we can rest for a moment." Lea pressed as he slung Roxas over his shoulder.

"Alright, let's head back to the beach for now." Aqua motioned to follow her as she led the way back to the Dark Margin...

* * *

"Hey you! Joshua!" Riku waved to the weird kid who was sitting on the Lady and the Tramp Display again in the sleeping world version of Traverse Town.

"Oh... Hello there Riku." Joshua nonchalantly waved to. "Anything I can do for you today?"

"Have you seen King Mickey around here?" Riku inquired.

"The little mouse king? How could I forget him?" Joshua replied.

"Where is he?!" Donald angrily quacked.

"Don't get your feathers all ruffled. His Majesty was quite in a hurry though, but he did ask me if I saw a guy in a black coat around here." Joshua answered.

"Well, which way did he go?" Riku questioned.

"Towards the Fountain Plaza, I'm sure you'll find him there." Joshua informed them.

"Thanks a bunch." Goofy nodded.

"Yeah thanks." Riku stated.

"I'd be careful if I were you." Joshua added.

"Wak! How come?" Donald questioned.

"From what I see ahead, you three are going have to do something you're not going to like." Joshua ominously responded as he flew away with his angel wings...

"Let's keep going guys." Riku motioned them towards the Fountain Plaza.

"Right." They both agreed.

* * *

Mona was staring at the wall in her room. She was scared stiff from what Saix had done to her, and to what he said to her...

"_Your betrayal will not go unpunished. Everything that makes you who you are will be eviscerated by the Master, make no mistake of that!"_

"_But why are you still hurting Drex?!"_

"_He needs to be made an example of for you and your so-called friends. ...His suffering will be slow and painful... Know that all of his despair is because of you..._

"No!" She snapped out of it. "I can't just... let this happen..."

Mona had gotten off of her bed and looked in the mirror that adorned her wall. Her eyes... these golden eyes... she hated them! The only time where she actually felt happy was with-!

There was a knock on her door followed by a hello.

Mona complied. "Come in."

Skyler let himself in and closed the door behind him. Mona was suspicious at first but then she sensed that this was the Skyler she fondly remembered from before, not his heartless Nobody who threatened her.

"Mona... I... I'm sorry for anything hurtful I might have said." Skyler apologized.

"Thank you Skyler." Mona smiled.

"I've been thinking for a little while and... I need to talk to you... about all of this."

"...Okay." She nodded.

"Why did you leave the Organization?" Skyler questioned.

"...I didn't want anything to do with Xehanort or hurting other people... especially Drex." Mona confessed.

"I see..." Skyler comforted. "Well if you ask me... I think that makes you a good person."

Mona's grin had faltered. "It didn't matter though. Xemnas brought me back and Drex is locked up..."

"...Maybe not for long." Skyler winked.

"What?"

"The X-Blade needs 13 darknesses, so they won't be able to destroy us. The Master needs us as strong and able vessels. But we're going to bust him out and hopefully at least delay the Keyblade War." Skyler explained his plan.

Mona agreed. "Let's do it. But what about the others? Should we get them in on it?"

"I don't know. For now... let's keep this between us, okay?" Skyler responded.

"Okay. So how are we executing this prison break?" Mona inquired.

"Well, here's what I thought we could do..."

And as Skyler explained the specifics of his plan to his friend, outside Mona's door... Xigbar casually leaned on the wall with his arms crossed wearing his usual smirk on his scarred face...

* * *

What is this thing?" Goofy asked.

"It looks like some sort of machine..." Riku guessed.

Indeed, it looked like a marvel of modern machinery. The contraption was placed in front of the giant fountain and had the structure of the scales of justice, but instead it had occupied cages on each end...

In one cage, it looked like there was some sort of large monster in it. But in the other cage, seemingly unconscious, was...

"Your Majesty!" Donald quaked.

"Gee, I guess he was taking a nap." Goofy said.

"We gotta get him out of that thing." Riku stated.

"...But why would you want to do that?"

Riku, Donald, and Goofy watched as a dark corridor appeared next to the control console of the machine to see none other than Alliana and Young Xehanort, both of them looking like their trap had been sprung.

"You again!" Riku hissed as he summoned Way to the Dawn.

"How fortunate for you Alliana, now our own plan may be tested." Young Xehanort calmly addressed.

"Yeah, I think we should introduce them to our friend Julius." Alliana smirked.

"Julius?" Riku assumed it was the monster sleeping in the other cage.

"Use him... and put them in their place..." Young Xehanort ordered.

"As you wish..." Alliana nodded.

Young Xehanort teleported away back into the darkness as Alliana began to push some buttons and placed her hand on a lever.

"Do you know what's like to fight a friend?" Alliana asked.

"Yeah I do." Riku answered.

"Well this is nothing like it..." She retorted as she pulled the lever.

**Play An Encounter Battle Theme on a second tab.**

The machine was brought to life! Electricity flowed through the coils and springs and soon both participants of the machine had woken up from the electrocution and were screaming in pain!

"Mickey!"

"Your Majesty!"

As soon as the machine had started up it seemed to have ended. Then only Mickey's cage had opened up, and the mouse had hopped down and landed beside Alliana.

"What...?" Riku was at a loss of words. "Mickey...?"

"Go!" Alliana pointed towards them. "Finish them!"

Mickey had barred his teeth gave a feral growl as he summoned his Keyblade and charged at his friends!

Apparently, the machine's purpose was to switch the King's mind with that of a controllable pet. With the meddlesome King under their control as a guardian of light, the Organization could tip the odds in their favor!

"No!" Riku blocked Mickey's attack. "There is no way this is you!"

"Riku! What are you doing?" Donald exclaimed.

"Keep him occupied while I deal with her!" Riku stated as he pushed the mouse off and he dashed at Alliana.

Mickey was no longer who he was but had the mind of another, unfortunately Goofy and Donald hesitated and were both slashed by their former King.

"Your Majesty!" Donald begged. "Please, snap outta it!"

"Donald... the King needs our help..." Goofy stated as he brandished his shield. "Let's do it for him..."

Donald reluctantly nodded in agreement as he pulled out his staff as the three musketeers clashed again, but this time at one another...

Riku's Keyblade met Alliana's swords, but then Riku threw a ball of dark fire from his free hand and Alliana took the full force of it. Flying back into the console, she nearly destroyed it on impact. Riku wasted no time to interrogate her on what had happened and how to resolve it.

"Change him back!" He demanded as he slashed his weapon at her head.

She gave a slight smirk and dodged rolled out of the way and fired a jet of aero magic into the Keyblade Master. The resulting wind blew Riku back a few feet, but he stood firm intent on victory.

"Change him back!" Riku repeated.

"I can't... if I fail here... I lose all rights..." Alliana confessed.

"Like I care. Mickey is not a puppet for you to control!" Riku retorted.

Alliana sighed. "...So be it. Julius!"

Donald and Goofy had put up a valiant effort, but they were defeated by the corrupted mouse and fell into unconsciousness. The mouse then heard the call of Alliana and rushed to her aid.

As the mouse was making his way towards Riku, the Keyblade Master had an idea and he destroyed the cage holding the monster with whom Mickey switched minds with. The real Mickey had to be in there!

"Mickey, wake up!" Riku nudged Julius's body.

The monster woke up and met Riku with kind eyes, but then he quickly panicked with the realization that something was very wrong and the fact that he wasn't in his own body!

In a rage, Mickey, who was using Julius's size and strength, grabbed the mouse in one giant hand and a weakened Alliana in the other. With all of the strength he could muster, he threw Alliana like a baseball as far as he could... and she was just gone...

Mickey, still in Julius's body, put the feral mouse in the opposite cage so that they could reverse this Frankenstein Freak Show. He then motioned to Riku to pull the lever and he got into place himself.

Riku complied and pulled the lever. In an instant, the same electrifying process occurred and it seemed successful with Mickey and Julius returning to their original bodies...

"Mickey, are you okay?" Riku nervously asked as he opened Mickey's cage.

"Gosh... that was..." Mickey trailed off clutching his head from dizziness.

"Weird." Riku finished relieved.

Julius had woken up himself and seemed confused and befuddled. He took one look at the machine, Riku, and the King, and he ran away in a panic, taking refuge back in the sewers beneath them.

"...Looks like you were there to help me out this time Riku, thank you." The King smiled.

"Don't mention it Mickey... I think we should get out of here though, and take care of them." He motioned towards Donald and Goofy.

"Oh no!" He rushed towards his friends.

Riku followed suit and suggested. "Let's take them back to the Castle to rest up then we should get to Yen Sid's."

"...Okay." Mickey complied slightly saddened.

And then the four of them departed from the Realm of Sleep...

* * *

Xion felt familiar and almost at home in this empty white Castle... She just wanted to forget... with what she had done... and she thought it was working...

"So... you found asylum in here too?"

Xion turned to meet her unexpected visitor, and she was surprised to say the least as to who it was...

"I don't belong anywhere else..." Xion responded.

"We have something in common then."

* * *

**A/N- Allow me to explain... Julius is the secret boss in Dream Drop Distance and if you look up his history he's in a cartoon where he actually switches minds with Mickey and takes control of his body. I really think something similar to this is going in to happen in KH3. Let me hear your thoughts.**

**Anyway, will Roxas learn his true identity? How will Aqua react to this? How do you think Mona and Skyler's plan will work out...? Was Alliana a home-run? And lastly, who is Xion's mysterious visitor? Find out next time! :)**


	15. Chapter 15: Tears

**The Resolve of All**

Chapter 15: Tears

**Play Xion's Theme on a second tab.**

"So... you found asylum in here too?"

Xion turned to meet her visitor and her eyes widened in surprise as to who it was...

"I don't belong anywhere else..." Xion responded.

"We have something in common then." Repliku stated.

"...Riku... What are you doing here?" She inquired.

"I'm not Riku." He firmly replied. "I am only a replica of him..."

"You're a replica too?" Xion asked.

"Yeah... and I guess you are one as well." Repliku deduced. "...Did you come here to find answers... or find sanctuary from others?"

"I... I killed the one person I really loved... and I hurt the other people I care about..." She confessed.

"Was it really you or did the Organization control you and make you do these things?" Repliku questioned. "Because I know what it's like..."

Xion began to shed tears. "It doesn't matter... what I've done is unforgivable..."

"...Really?" Repliku approached closer to the girl. "Tell me your name."

"...Xion." She answered.

"Xion... It must be nice... having your own name. To be honest...I've always been referred to as a puppet... a fake... or just less than a human being. ...I've beem thinking for a real long time... and I wonder if replicas are even real people... And even if they aren't... why does it still hurt inside...?" Repliku thought out loud.

"I'd still like to think that even replicas have hearts..." Xion replied.

"...Hmm... I hope you're right..." Repliku agreed. "Xion... What does it means to be your own person? To have your own heart...?"

"...I don't know... I wish... I could just look inside and find the answer..." Xion responded.

"Maybe... it's so simple that we don't even need to find it." He asked. "What do you think hearts are made up of?"

Xion thought hard on the simple question trying to contemplate a logical answer for such a seemingly easy subject. But then her mind just wandered back to her friends...

"I think... that hearts are made of the people we meet, and how we feel about them. They're what ties us together even when we're apart..."

"That's... so profound... I can't believe that you can put it in those words..." Repliku chuckled. "So those that are alone... have no hearts...?"

"No..." Xion shook her head. "You can be my friend, if you want..."

"...Heh... You're so kind... But I think I can serve a better purpose than a friend..." Repliku replied.

"What do you mean?" Xion retorted.

"I want you to make me a promise Xion." Repliku stated. "Please live the life you're given along with mine..."

"Huh?"

Suddenly, Repliku quickly summoned his Soul Eater weapon and immediately stabbed himself in the chest to end his existence...

"What are you doing?!" Xion yelled in disbelief.

"I'm giving you everything... I have to offer... my life force... as you see fit... I'm satisfied knowing that you can be a better person for the both of us... a fellow replica..."

Then Repliku began to fall, but Xion caught him from hitting the ground and then he began to fade into sparkles of light...

Repliku stated. "Death doesn't frighten me... in fact, I welcome it because it will give me peace..."

"...Please don't go... you're the only one who could sympathize with me as a replica..." Xion cried as she clutched his head.

"But... you're not a replica anymore... you're Xion... you're your own person..." Repliku proclaimed.

Xion gasped at this statement. "How can I ever thank you...?"

"Just... live your life... please..." Repliku pleaded.

"Okay... I-I will." She agreed with a sob.

"Then everything should be alright... Go to your friends... prove your theory... and just... live..."

Then Repliku faded until he was just a body of light then the sparkles had separated and he faded from the large white room... and Xion was alone again... bawling from the sacrifice...holding the gift Repliku had given her...

"I promise you... I will take your words... and make them a reality..." Xion declared.

Then she collected herself and walked towards the exit of Castle Oblivion...

* * *

"Aqua... I see you have brought more visitors..." Ansem greeted.

"Hey... I've been here before..." Sora said as they all arrived at the Dark Margin.

"What...? How did you get out?!" Aqua eagerly inquired.

"Um... it was the Door to Light." He answered.

"The Door to Light..." Ansem repeated. "Just as I thought..."

"That voice... Hey... aren't you Ansem the Wise?" Sora deduced.

"...Perhaps. It's a good a name as any." Ansem grinned. "But you must be Sora. Thank you all for being our savior."

"Don't worry about it. But the thing is we're going to need your help." Sora replied.

"Yeah, you could say that again." Lea piped up as he placed the still sleeping Roxas back down.

"Now that we found you, we can all head back." Kairi stated. "The worlds are need you."

"We should wait a while until Roxas wakes back up." Lea responded.

"...I don't know who this Roxas guy is. But that's Ventus; he's one of my best friends." Aqua replied with a frustrated tone.

"Ventus?" Lea questioned. "No... He's my best friend and his name is Roxas!"

"I thought that was Roxas too." Sora chimed in.

"Me too." Kairi agreed.

"...Look, I'm not crazy. He has to be Ven. He looks just like him... the same hair... the same eyes..." Aqua shook her head and her eyes actually began to water. "It has to be him..."

"Hey... don't be sad." Sora tried to cheer her up. "How about I promise to help you find your friend, alright?"

"Everyone but you says this is Roxas. Got it memorized?" Lea added.

"Aqua..." Ansem consoled. "You need to believe that your friends can still be saved no matter what. Ventus and... Terra was it? They both are still waiting for you. Leave that boy be... it seems you were mistaken."

"I'll believe it when I see it." Aqua stood firm. "We're going straight to where I placed him. Where he's still safe... If Ven's still asleep... I'll let it go..."

"And where is this place at? Kairi inquired.

"My old home..." She replied.

"We should split up then." Lea suggested. "I can take Ansem and Roxas back to Radiant Garden then you three can head to wherever you're going. Meet back at Yen Sid's."

"Sounds like a plan." Sora nodded.

"I'd be lying if I said I'd miss this place..." Aqua stated. "So... let's finally get out here."

"Here, I'll create a corridor." Lea summoned an escape route. "That'll take you where you want to go. Come on Ansem."

And so they all left the Realm of Darkness, none of them hoping they would ever have to return later...

* * *

**Play Master Xehanort's Theme Music on a second tab.**

Here in this deep dark meeting room, a long rectangular table is set in the middle of the chamber. There were thirteen chairs, all of which including the table were a dark onyx black color.

Master Xehanort sat at the head of the table seemingly looking like he was meditating on some serious thoughts. Xigbar sat at his left and Xemnas and Saix sat on his right...

"I'm telling you, those guys are going to spring that Drex guy outta here." Xigbar warned.

"They wouldn't dare defy their Superiors..." Saix denied.

"As if... we're having the same problems with love and friendship just like last time. I mean didn't we form this new Organization so we wouldn't have this problem?" Xigbar argued. "Same heart and mind..."

"Indeed... Our later members are faulting in their loyalties and they are all resisting the transformation..." Xemnas stated.

"It seems you miscalculated... Master..." Saix coldly stated.

Master Xehanort finally looked up from his mediation apparently taking in all of the words that have been said thus far.

"...I'll admit..." Master Xehanort retorted. "I acted rashly in choosing these children as my vessels... But you cannot deny the strength of their hearts... which is why I've chosen them in the first place..."

"I don't understand Master..." Saix replied.

"He means that we have to work a little harder to get what we want. Isn't that right you old coot?" Xigbar chuckled.

"Yes..." Master Xehanort nodded. "If I recall, it took me several years to acquire you as a vessel Isa..."

Saix scoffed. "If you're so confident, why don't we do something about it?"

"It is interesting to see how these events have played out thus far..." Master Xehanort began to rant. "They will be important in the years to come when we survive the Second Keyblade War. ...But once we complete the X-blade and unlocked the power of the true Kingdom Hearts... we will attain the status of... _gods_..."

"Heh-heh sounds good enough for me." Xigbar grinned.

"Really...?" Saix wanted to focus back at the purpose of this meeting. "So what do we do about this little rebellion of ours?"

"If you're so concerned with such a meager matter, quell this yourself and do what you will with our prisoner. I don't think we'll need him alive anymore..." Master Xehanort curtly replied.

"Yes... Master." Saix bowed as he left the meeting room.

"That guy needs to learn to chill out." Xigbar chuckled again.

"How goes the capture of the seventh princess?" Master Xehanort inquired.

"Vanitas and Fate screwed up and now she's with Sora and Master Aqua." Xigbar informed them.

Master Xehanort exasperated. "And the machine that was to control the little mouse king?"

"That was a fail as well. I'm starting to notice a pattern here..." Xigbar laughed.

"Send someone who will not fail us in getting the girl..." Master Xehanort responded. "We must proceed with our plans without any more failures..."

"I know just the guy for the job..." Xigbar smirked.

* * *

In another part of the compound, Skyler went back into Mona's room and gave her a silent nod saying that it was time...

"I got some of the Dusks to let us guard him for a while." Skyler stated. "He should be asleep right now, let's just grab him and go."

"Sounds good." Mona agreed.

The two of them quietly exited the room and continued down into the hallway and made their way to the dungeons and prison cells below...

"Who's been watching over Drex?" Mona suddenly inquired.

"I don't know... I think the lesser Nobodies and some Heartless have been doing the job." Skyler guessed.

"I hope he's okay..." Mona said in concern.

"Don't worry, Drex is tough... he'll be fine." Skyler comforted.

"What about Fate, Mark, and Alliana? I heard they're all back here." Mona stated.

"I hope they don't get in our way..." Skyler said as he stopped next to a directory. "Looks like... he's down this corridor last cell on the right..."

"Drex! Are you down there?!" Mona shouted.

"Shut up Mona! We're supposed to be quiet." He silenced.

"Sorry, I just got a little excited there for a second..." She zipped her lips.

"Come on let's go..." Skyler motioned her to follow him.

The two friends walked up to the cell which housed the incarcerated Drexbann... but when they saw him... the horror on their faces was almost indescribable...

**Play The Last of Us- All Gone (no escape) Music Extended on second tab.**

"No..." Mona wept. "Get this thing open!"

There... in the middle of the cell... was Drex lying in a pool of his own... _blood_.

It looked like he was barely conscious... but there were just so many cuts and burns all over his body... His face was scarred and burned like no other...

"Those monsters! What did they do to him?!" Skyler bellowed as he finally opened the door.

Immediately, Mona went to Drex's side, checking his vitals and seeing if they could move him.

"His pulse is weak!" Mona stated in fear.

"Do you have any potions or elixirs?" Skyler inquired.

"He won't be able to drink anything like this!" Mona sobbed. "I'm going to try to heal his wounds."

"He's lost so much blood already..." Skyler gravely noted.

"I did the best I could... but he needs to get somewhere else!" Mona advised in a panicked tone.

"Please... no more..."

"Drex!" They said in unison.

"I'm sorry... I'm so sorry..." He began to weep as well.

"Drex..." She embraced him gingerly. "It's going to be okay... It's going to be okay..."

"Stop... just stop... Mona?" He seemed delirious.

"I'm right here Drex..." She sobbed. "I'm right here..."

"His friends could help him." Skyler stated as moved towards him. "...We should start by getting him out of here."

"No... don't... I... I-I can't..." Drex sputtered up some blood.

"This isn't a discussion!" Mona fought back the tears but to no avail. "...Skyler, carry him..."

Skyler grabbed Drex and slung his arm around his shoulder motioning to his friend to put all of his weight on him, although Drex winced with every step they both made together.

"Let's get going." Skyler said. "Mona, you take down anything in our way..."

"Wait..." Drex stopped them. "Please..."

"What is it?" Mona replied.

"We don't have time for this!" Skyler hastened.

"Mona... I-I have to... tell you... something... I... I lov..." Drex choked on his own blood. "...I... love... you..."

And then he closed his eyes...

"No... No!" Mona cried as she tried to wake him up. "Drex... I love you too..."

"Come on we have too-!" Suddenly the cell door slammed shut and the lights went out in the small chamber.

"No!" Mona growled as she summoned her Keyblade. "Just let us go!"

"I'm afraid I can't do that..." Saix coldly responded from outside the locked door. "...Look at you... trapped like the rats that you are... disgraceful..."

"How... how could you do this to him...?" Skyler desperately demanded as he held onto his friend.

"That's not your concern... and even if was... why does it matter?" He coldly inquired.

"Because he's my friend!" He proclaimed.

"And I love him!" She declared.

"Disgusting... to think that things have gotten this bad..." Saix then came to a new revolution. "I don't care what the Master says... none of you are worthy of what lies ahead... I will have to dispose of you all... permanently!"

Suddenly, the chamber erupted with hot blue fire and those inside did not stand a chance of surviving... but little did Saix know that Skyler had hastily put up barrier to keep them from being cremated while Mona performed CPR on Drex...

"Come on! Breathe! Breathe! Please!" She begged.

"Mona... I can't hold this up for long..." Skyler cringed.

"No... he won't wake up... please... come back to us... come back to me..." Mona pleaded as the tears dripped down onto Drex's lifeless face... his eyes still closed.

"Do something Mona!"

And in that instant... the heat was too much... and the fiery blue flames engulfed them... everything was just dark and... cold...

* * *

**A/N- ...Give you a moment to think, collect yourself, maybe get that tissue? How did this happen...? Will Xion find redemption? Will Aqua, Sora, and Kairi find Ventus? Who will Xigbar send to intercept them? Will Roxas and Ansem regain their entire memories? And finally... did anyone survive in that prison cell...? Give me your thoughts.**


	16. Chapter 16: No More Delays

**The Resolve of All**

Chapter 16: No More Delays

**Play the KH Friends in My Heart OST on a second tab.**

_10 years earlier..._

"_Haha! Tag you're it!"_

"_Aw, come on... you catch me too fast!"_

"_That's because you're a slowpoke!"_

"_Fine. Then you better stop running before I get you!"_

"_Ahhh! Stop it Brendan!" Mona giggled._

"_You're losing your edge." He chuckled._

"_Hey guys! What's up?" Skyler approached their game of tag._

"_Just having fun, what's going on with you?" She inquired._

"_A few new kids just moved into town." Skyler grinned. "Let's go meet them..."_

"_Okay!" They both happily complied._

_The three of them ran for it as they cut through their little mountain village until they made it to a local park where three other kids were playing with each other._

"_Hello," Mona introduced themselves to them. "I'm Mona, this is Brendan, and Skyler."_

"_Hi!" The spiky raven-haired boy greeted. "I'm Mark, and this is Alliana, and little Fate."_

"_Nice to meet you." The girls waved shyly._

"_Hey, you guys want to play a game?" Brendan suggested._

"_Sure!" They all agreed._

_And the six of them were friends ever since..._

_9 years later..._

"_Are you serious Mark?" Alliana doubted. "How is this thing going to fly?"_

_The two of them marveled at the custom-bulit flying machine which resembled a biplane of sorts. All of them had been working together to make it for the past year, but it seemed now it was air worthy._

"_It'll work... we'll be able to see so much more of the world and beyond now..." Mark fantasied._

"_And what do you think you'll find in this great beyond Mark?" Brendan stated as he approached from behind them along with Mona, Fate, and Skyler._

"_Maybe other worlds..." Mark guessed._

"_Haha! This isn't Kingdom Hearts or anything like that." Skyler laughed off._

"_Hey, you never know. Right?" Brendan defended._

"_Tomorrow, we'll all fly in it, and it'll be a blast." Fate smiled._

"_Definitely." Mona nodded._

"_I got an idea, how about we make a promise... that the six of us will always be friends no matter what even when we're all grown up." Alliana declared._

"_Heh-heh... you've been playing too much Kingdom Hearts." Fate said._

"_Come on, we're all playing too much of that game... but nevertheless... that still sounds like a great idea. Friends Forever?" Brendan stated._

"_Why not? I could do worse than you guys." Skyler shrugged jokingly._

_They all laughed at his statement as they all put their hands together to signify their friendship and their strong bond which would tie them together... forever..._

* * *

The darkness and the bitter cold... almost seemed familiar now... Why did it have to be this way...?

It seemed like he was drifting in the black abyss for what felt like years, but then suddenly the ground come up hard and a comforting a kind voice guided him towards the light... he knew her...

"Drex?!"

"Mona?"

"Drex!"

It had to be her... it just had to be... but no... It wasn't... it was another he cared about...

"Xion..." Drex slipped out.

"Drex, you're awake..." Xion relieved as she hugged him. "I thought you were gone again..."

"I thought I was too..." Drex examined himself and found that he had been completely healed even the scars and burns were gone... "What happened? Where are we?!"

"We're in Radiant Garden... at our old house..." Xion said sadly as they were both in the middle of a black skeletal framework of where the burned down house used to be...

"...Wow..." Drex took in the destruction. "...How am I still alive?"

"You were pretty much dead when I found you here... and the thing is... I had to give you another life force..." Xion informed him.

"Another life... for me?" Drex questioned. "From who?"

"A friend..." Xion simply put. "Someone who helped me... and he helped you too."

"...I guess he really did..." Drex gave a small grin as he and Xion stood up in the ashes.

"What happened to you Xion?" Drex inquired.

"You first." She defensively responded.

"...Uh... I failed to find the princess, fought one of my best friends twice, fell in love, got captured, then I apparently died for a bit. You?" Drex nonchalantly said.

"Fell in love?" Xion raised an eyebrow. "With who?"

"...A childhood friend who's working with the Organization... it's a long story..." Drex rubbed his head sheepishly.

"I can imagine..." Xion responded with sympathy. "...I really need to tell you something Drex..."

"What is it Xion?" He inquired.

"...I...I killed Roxas..." She confessed with a sob.

"...Wait a second... Are you serious?" Drex wanted to clarify.

"Yes..." She cried.

"...But Roxas and Lea are right over there." Drex pointed behind her.

Indeed when Xion turned around, there was a smiling tall pyro and a shorter spiky blonde with a blank expression waving at them.

"Roxas!" Xion shed tears of joy as she dashed at her boyfriend begging for forgiveness with Drex following suit behind her.

"Hey guys. I found this zombie in the darkness, should we keep him?" Lea jokingly said as he nudged the groggy blonde.

"Glad you guys are still in one piece." Drex smiled as he bro-hugged Lea.

Xion embraced Roxas and captured his lips, hoping to feel the warmth that she got from him at least one last time... And like a fairy tail story, the second the kiss made contact with the two teens, a magical moment happened and all of Roxas's memories came back to him...

"Xion... you're okay..." Roxas whispered.

"You're back, Roxas... I'm... I'm so sorry..." She begged. "Can you ever forgive me...?"

"I already have..." Roxas forgave as they embraced each other again.

"Look at that." Lea smirked. "The gang's back together again."

"Let's hope it stays this way." Roxas grinned.

"...Um... we may need a new house though..." Drex pointed out.

"We can worry about that later." Lea shrugged off. "Let's just finish what we started and get back to old man Yen Sid."

"Sounds like a plan." Xion nodded ready to get back into the fight with her best friends.

Lea then summoned a dark corridor to the Mysterious Tower and he, Roxas, and Xion stepped into, but Drex lagged behind again...

"I don't know how you did it... but you saved me again Mona... I promise to return the favor... and send all of us back home..." Drex vowed.

And then he stepped into the dark portal...

* * *

_Suddenly, the chamber erupted with hot blue fire and those inside did not stand a chance of surviving... but little did Saix know that Skyler had hastily put up barrier to keep them from being cremated while Mona performed CPR on Drex..._

_"Come on! Breathe! Breathe! Please!" She begged._

_"Mona... I can't hold this up for long..." Skyler cringed._

_"No... he won't wake up... please... come back to us... come back to me..." Mona pleaded as the tears dripped down onto Drex's lifeless face... his eyes still closed._

_"Do something Mona!"_

_Mona then used the last of her powers to create a corridor of darkness beneath Drex's body to send him back to his home in Radiant Garden where she knew his friends would be..._

_Skyler's barrier was then engulfed and the two of them were then surrounded by the fire._

_To both of their surprise, snake-like whips of energy spurted form the vortex of flames around them, and they wrapped themselves around their arms and legs._

"_Get off of me!" Mona struggled._

"_I can't get free!" Skyler resisted in vain._

"_Ahhhhh!" They both screamed in agony from the sudden electrocutions from the whips of energy until they both fell into unconsciousness..._

* * *

Saix calmly walked into the basement of their headquarters which consisted of a variety of machines and pods, from the old Castle Oblivion Lab and The World That Never Was, to perform scientific research. Saix slowly examined the five pods which stood before him, all of them containing one of the later members of Organization XIII...

Mark... Alliana... Skyler... Fate... and Mona slumbered almost as if they were in a coma each submerged in the liquid inside the large white pods...

"...Finally, we can make things right again... No more truancy... no more delays..." Saix coldly stated.

Xemnas then made his presence known and he appeared next to Saix with a stoic expression on his face as his eyes beheld those who were in the pods.

"It won't be long now... soon our goals will be realized and the denizens of light will come forth to spark the war..." Xemnas proclaimed.

"...These... children... will lose their identities; everything that they are will be gone except for what makes them Xehanort..." Saix inquired. "...Will that happen to me as well?"

"All of us will have to make the transformation. With the same heart and mind, there will be no faults within the seekers of darkness..." Xemnas continued. "Fragments of their Lingering Wills might resist the true darkness, but in the end... nothing will stop what is already been put into motion..."

"Then that just leaves the last princess..." Saix responded.

* * *

Castle Oblivion looked as desolate as ever as Kairi, Sora, and Aqua approached the late Land of Departure.

"What is this place?" Kairi wondered out loud.

"My home." Aqua simply put. "Ven will be here."

"Why does it feel like I've been here before?" Sora scratched his head in wonder.

"Déjà vu?" Aqua smiled as she opened the front doors of the Castle...

"It's was all white... the floors, the walls... the ceiling..." Kairi said as she took the brightness in.

"Ven will be past a secret door just up ahead." Aqua pointed towards the far doorway.

As the three of them were about halfway across the floor, a sparkle shimmered from within Kairi and in a flash everyone was blinded by a strong light!

"Don't go any further!"

"Who are you?" Sora asked as the light faded away.

"Sora... don't you remember our promise?" Namine smiled.

"Oh! Namine!" Sora realized that he had gained all of his memories from his previous excursion in Castle Oblivion, most likely because he was in the company of Aqua and Namine.

"Yes." She nodded. "I hope you all are ready to fight because-!"

**Play the Eye of Darkness Theme on a second tab.**

Suddenly, a shockwave of darkness erupted from a dark corridor on the far end of the floor.

"...Oh no..." Namine stated as she witnessed the enemy standing before them.

Out of the dark corridor… was a corrupted version of Aqua's Armor as an oddly outside version of a Dream Eater... or the Armored Aqua Nightmare...

"Aqua! What is that thing?!" Sora exclaimed.

"I know exactly what it is... let me take care of it..." Aqua stated.

"No way... I'm going to help out!" Sora declared. "Besides you don't even have a Keyblade!"

"But the thing is that IS my Keyblade and my armor." Aqua revealed.

"Huh?" Sora said with confusion.

"Get back!" Aqua warned Kairi and Namine as a barrier formed in front of the two girls.

"Let's go!" Sora stated as he rushed the Armor.

The corruted metal enemy sank into the floor as Sora attempted to strike it, but then it emerged down from the ceiling above him!

"Sora! Look out!" Aqua shouted before firing a blizzard spell from her hands.

The Possessed Armor took a direct hit form the ice and it was blown back from the impact and into the wall. Because of the crash it sounded like the Armor was hollow...

"Thanks Aqua! I got this now!" Sora reassured.

As the Armor brandished Aqua's Keyblade, it collided with Sora's Kingdom Key. The corrupted metal pushed through Sora's defenses, but the brunette was able to counter with relative ease as he slashed through the Armor's left shoulder piece. But to Sora's surprise, the entire arm was just separated from the rest of the Armor.

"Gotcha!" Sora smirked.

The Armor staggered as it examined its missing limb, but then it didn't take notice as Sora advanced and struck it multiple times and finished it off by knocking the helmet off!

The headless Armor now was no longer moving as it fell to its knees and the black smoke of the Possessor Heartless perished... then the Armor twinkled away into sparkles of light and eventually returned to Aqua as she reclaimed her own Keyblade.

"That wasn't so bad..." Sora wiped away the sweat from his brow.

"Ahhhhhhh!"

Aqua and Sora turned their attention to the other side of the barrier behind them and their jaws dropped in horror as they witnessed Namine and Kairi in the clutches of the Guardian Heartless of Ansem... The Possessed Armor was just a distraction!

"Kairi! Namine!" Sora yelled as he tried to rescue the girls but the barrier between them prevented that.

"That monster..." Aqua realized from a distant memory.

"LET THEM GO!" Sora demanded.

"Sora! Help!" Kairi begged as she and her Nobody was being squeezed into unconsciousness...

Then out of another dark corridor... on the side with the Guardian and the girls... Terranort stepped out...

"Terra!" Aqua cried out for.

"Tch..." Terranort scoffed. "...After all this time... you still do not realize that Terra's light has been extinguished..."

Sora tried slashing and pounding through the barrier but to no avail. "Let them go or I'm going to-!"

"You'll what?" Terranort challenged. "Don't even bother boy. ...These girls will be the final key to opening the Door to Darkness... then all the worlds will be blanketed by the black abyss... and so will all the hearts that populate them! ...If you wish to futilely resist further... come to where war was once waged... and where it will be fought once again!"

And to that end, Terranort snapped his fingers and the Guardian Heartless obeyed its Master and whisked itself, Kairi and Namine into the darkness...

Then Terranort stepped back into his own corridor, ignoring Sora's cries and objections for him to release the girls... and Aqua and Sora were alone in the empty fortress once more...

"No! No... Kairi..." Sora sobbed as he fell to his hands and knees when the barrier finally disappeared.

"Sora..." Aqua attempted to comfort. "I'm so sorry..."

"It's my fault... I-I wasn't there for her... I'm not strong enough to do this..." He sniffed.

"That's not true." Aqua consoled as she knelt down beside him. "If there's anyone strong enough to do this ...To rescue her... it's you... Master Sora..."

"Huh?" Sora looked back up with tears in his eyes.

"You heard me... Sora, with the power invested in me, I dub thee a True Keyblade Master." She declared.

Sora stood back up and wiped away the sadness on his face and focused on his new resolve to save Kairi now as his first duty as a True Master of the Keyblade.

"Thank you, Aqua." Sora smiled.

"Let's go wake up Ven then find everyone else." Aqua returned a small grin.

Then the two Masters stepped forth across the floor and into a secret room where only Aqua would find and there in the middle of the mysterious chamber... was another spiky blonde boy still snoozing away in the white throne with a small smile on his face...

* * *

**A/N- The Sea-Salt gang has been reunited! But the Second Keyblade War draws nigh with the grave capture of Kairi and Namine. Looks like Xehanort has lost all of his patience with Drex's friends and they will indefinitely fight against their wills on the side of darkness. And with Sora a Keyblade Master now, will he and Aqua be able to awaken Ven with ease? Will the Light prevail over darkness? Find out more next time. :)**


	17. Chapter 17: Wake Up For a War

**The Resolve of All**

Chapter 17: Wake Up For a War

**Play KH Ventus's Theme on a second tab.**

"_...How... how did this happen?"_

_Mark was looking on, along with the rest of the group, in sorrow and disbelief as they all found their biplane flying machine sabotaged, smashed to a pulp in a pile of unrecognized metal and wood..._

"_...Maybe it was an accident..." Fate guessed._

"_That's stupid Fate... The biplane is too smashed up to be an accident." Alliana put down._

"_This was done on purpose." Mark concluded._

"_Who would do this?" Mona questioned. "There's no one in our town that even know about it!"_

"_Then it was one of us." Skyler stated._

_Each of the six kids looked at one another suspiciously in an effort to find the weak link and the traitor of their group._

"_So which one of us was it?" Alliana inquired._

"_It couldn't have been me." Mark singled himself out. "I designed the thing, why would I scrap it after all that work?"_

"_So, why did you do it Skyler?" Alliana surprisingly asked._

"_Me?! Why me?" He responded._

"_You never wanted any part of this since the beginning; you just had to break another one of my toys." Mark accused._

"_Mark, don't be assuming anything!" Brendan retorted._

"_What about Mona?" Alliana pointed. "No one saw her all day..."_

"_I would never do anything like that!" Mona defended herself. "You have to believe me!"_

"_No way was it either of them!" Brendan responded. "It had to be someone else!"_

_Fate replied. "Who else could it be?"_

"_That's it! I say we put it to a vote!" Mark declared._

"_Let's just all calm down and work on this together." Brendan attempted to quell to rising tensions. "Quit waving the finger around!"_

"_Why would any of you believe Mona or I had anything to do with this? If you're the ones accusing us then it could have been you." Skyler responded._

"_You know what? I just about had enough of..."_

_The arguing and the curse words spewed forth and the accusations continued as tensions began to rise even higher. Something had to be done..._

"_You know what? If no one's going to own up to it, maybe you guys really aren't the best of friends..." Mark crossed his arms in disappointment._

"_Don't say that." Mona begged. "Why don't we take a page from Brendan's book and just talk it out like civil human beings."_

"_...I did it..." Brendan stated taking the responsibility._

"_What?!" They all said._

"_Why did you do this?" Fate inquired._

"_It doesn't matter... you wouldn't believe me anyway..." Brendan shook his head._

"_I can't believe you..." Mark growled. "How could you?"_

"_Brendan... Tell us why..." Skyler requested._

"_...I didn't want us to leave home..." Brendan confessed._

"_Well it's not all about you." Alliana firmly retorted. "We wanted to see new places."_

"_Now we have to start all over again..." Mark exasperated._

"_Brendan why don't you just go away for the day..." Fate pushed her glasses into place. "Maybe explore that cave you mentioned earlier."_

"_Yeah just... leave us alone..." Skyler added._

"_...I'm sorry..." Brendan apologized as he left the group and headed towards the cave which was a little ways away._

_As Brendan was about to pick up his sister for some company, he was stopped by Mona before he turned the doorknob of his front door._

"_Brendan!" Mona waved._

"_What is it Mona?" He responded._

"_...I... what they did to you was harsh..." Mona replied._

"_Maybe... but hey don't worry about it. They'll get over it." Brendan consoled._

"_...Why'd you do it though...?" Mona inquired. "Why'd you take the blame...?"_

_Brendan avoided her gaze at the comment and turned back to his door and opened it. "...Because... better me than you..."_

_Brendan closed the door behind him and left Mona to her own thoughts. She was astonished by the discovery that he knew it was her that destroyed the biplane and not only that, but his excuse for doing so was the same as hers... Why would we want things to change?_

_Then the blond girl's mind flooded with feelings and affections for her best friend. She wanted to apologize and be with him, but she ignored her heart and listened to her brain as she turned around and headed back to the other four friends..._

_Maybe if she stopped Brendan from exploring the cursed cave none of them would've lost their hearts or their world to darkness... but we'll never know... All we know is that these six friends will be put to the final test in their final battle under circumstances they could never even imagine..._

* * *

"Let's go wake up Ven then find everyone else." Aqua returned a small grin.

Then the two Masters stepped forth across the floor and into a secret room where only Aqua knew it would be and there in the middle of the chamber... was another spiky blond boy still snoozing away in the white throne with a small smile on his face...

"He does look just like Roxas..." Sora noted.

"Yeah... he does." Aqua replied as they both approached Ventus.

"So... what do we do?" Sora inquired.

"Uh... I'm not sure to be perfectly honest." Aqua scratched her head.

"Maybe if I-! Whoa!" Sora exclaimed.

A bright light had lit up, resonating from Sora's chest and suddenly, everything went black and the brunette was just falling... and falling... and falling... as if he was sinking into an ocean... But then a light appeared beneath him... it looked familiar... It was a stain-glass platform with Sora himself in the glass... it was his Dive to the Heart...

"Uh... Hello?" Sora called out when he landed on the glass.

"You were there for me when I needed you most..."

"...Ven?"

"You gave my heart sanctuary for ten years..."

"...Where are you?" He looked around for the source of the voice.

"But now... I think it's time for me to wake up..."

"I think so too." Sora nodded just going with the flow.

"Thank you..."

Suddenly, Ventus himself materialized in front of Sora with a happy grin on his face. He gladly took Sora's hand and pulled him in for a grateful hug... When Sora opened his eyes everything was white and he returned back to Aqua in the Chamber of Sleep.

"Ven!" Aqua cried up as she embraced the drowsy blonde who was stirring from his slumber.

"Aqua?" Ven raised an eyebrow as he returned the hug and examined his surroundings. "Where are we...?"

"We're home Ven... We're home..." Aqua sobbed.

"...Ven." Sora smiled as he extended his hand. "I'm Sora... nice to meet you... officially."

"Heh-heh, likewise." Ven happily shook his friend's hand.

"Ven... We can explain everything later... but for now we gotta go. Okay?" Aqua stated.

"Sure Aqua... but what about Terra? Where's he at?" Ven inquired.

"Terra?" Sora remembered the name from when Aqua called out to the man who captured Kairi and Namine. Was that Terra?

"We'll... see him very soon... alright Ven?" Aqua replied.

"...Okay." Ven nodded in agreement as he got out of the throne for the first time in a decade.

"Let's get back to Yen Sid's." Sora affirmed as the three of them departed from Castle Oblivion...

* * *

"The time has come..." Yen Sid declared. "With Kairi in their clutches... the Door to Darkness will be opened... if we do not intervene, all of the worlds will be consumed by the black abyss..."

In attendance with Yen Sid were all of the remaining heroes: Master Riku, Master Sora, Master Aqua, Ventus, Master Mickey, Roxas, Xion, Lea, Drexbann, Donald, and Goofy. Although, it was really weird to say the least when Ven and Roxas met each other, but if there's another dark Sora out there who Ventus explained it was Vanitas, they accepted one another like twins. Xion took careful note that Roxas was still the one in the black coat.

"But that's exactly what Master Xehanort wants us to do. If we intervene, then the X-blade will be forged from all the fighting!" Mickey stated.

"Yes... but I'm afraid that a Second Keyblade War is unpreventable under these circumstances. As soon as we step onto the battlefield, all of the chaos will ensue. Kingdom Hearts will be revealed and the ultimate conflict between light and darkness will begin." Yen Sid explained.

"So we have no choice but to fight right now..." Roxas started.

"...in another Keyblade War?" Ven finished.

"Well I don't know about you guys... but I'm ready." Riku proclaimed.

"Riku... we'll look for Kairi together!" Sora grinned.

"Namine too." Riku nodded.

"So eleven of us are enough for an army?" Lea questioned.

"When the X-blade is forged and the true Kingdom Hearts is present, the barriers that divide all the worlds will be torn down and Keyblade wielders of light and darkness will be called forth." Yen Sid answered.

"So we'll have others on our side." Xion responded.

"So I guess those guys will handle them then we just gotta take out Organization XIII." Goofy stated.

"Maybe not all of them." Drex chimed in.

"I'm sorry?" Yen Sid raised an eyebrow.

"Nothing." Drex hushed himself.

"Nevertheless, while Master Xehanort is the leader of the Organization we must defeat his other twelve selves before we can destroy him." Yen Sid continued. "As such, we need to prepare for the final battle and provide you all with a first line of defense."

"I agree." Aqua nodded. "Everyone should get their own Keyblade Armor."

"Then allow me to bestow you all with worthy protection." Yen Sid stated as he waved his hand.

Suddenly, everyone in the room was enveloped in light and when the brightness faded the Guardians of Light marveled at their new armor...

"Whoa!" Sora exclaimed.

"You can say that again." Riku replied.

Ven and Aqua were wearing their own usual armor, but without their helmets. Sora was sporting black chain-mail and golden plates. Riku was wearing white chain-mail with silver plates. Roxas was wearing black chain-mail with silver plates. Lea was wearing black chain-mail with red plating. Xion was wearing black chain-mail with black plating, and Drexbann was wearing black chain-mail with brown plating. Finally, King Mickey was wearing red chain-mail with golden plates, while Goofy wore his captain uniform and Donald his mage's hat, blue chain-mail, and blue plates.

"Wow..." They all said examining their armors.

Yen Sid stood up. "And finally... myself."

"Wait a minute! Master Yen Sid, you're fighting too?" Mickey questioned.

"...Everyone must contribute Mickey... and that includes me." Yen Sid responded. "My retirement will be dismantled for now."

Suddenly, for the first time in decades maybe, Yen Sid summoned his own Keyblade which was a longer blue version of Star Seeker which was dubbed, 'Fantasia'.

"Wak! Yen Sid... Are you going to fight with us then?" Donald quacked. "With a Keyblade?!"

"Yes I am..." Yen Sid declared. "While you all destroy the other twelve selves, I will confront Master Xehanort myself and prevent the Door to Darkness from opening for as long as I can..."

"Are you sure?" Aqua asked in concern.

Yen Sid smirked. "I could teach Xehnanort a thing or two about magic... But now it's best we depart now!"

"We're going to kick their dark butts, got it memorized?" Lea grinned.

"Yeah we are!" Roxas and Xion smiled.

Yen Sid then impaled his Keyblade into his desk and surprisingly the whole room flashed with another strong light, and it seemed that when they opened their eyes they had all teleported and they were all on a tall cliff in the Keyblade Graveyard...

"This is where it all started..." Riku said.

"...And this is where we'll end it." Sora finished.

But their hopes and resolves had faltered when suddenly a crater far off on the horizon dispelled its illusion and it revealed a purple and black tower which quickly jetted upwards to a dark rift that cracked across the dusty sky...

"There..." Yen Sid pointed to the top. "Powerful magic is being channeled in that fortress... I will go on ahead and endure... good luck."

"Yen Sid! Wait!" Mickey protested but Yen Sid already teleported away in another flash of light.

"Let's keep going guys." Aqua motioned them forward. "It's what he would've wanted."

And they all marched forth towards the tall dark tower, uncertain of what may lie ahead for the Guardians...

"...Kairi... just give me a little more time... okay?" Sora whispered as he summoned his Keyblade, as did the rest of them...

* * *

Off in the distance... neither the dark nor the light knowing of his presence... an armored man wielded the Ends of the Earth had awaken and he stepped forth towards the tower as well...

* * *

**A/N- Master Yen Sid vs. Master Xehanort... a battle for the mages! And the Keyblade War will ensue starting next chapter! Who will be victorious? Who will fall? Find out next time on the Resolve of All! Hey that rhymed!**

**P.S. I decided to let Sora just keep his Keyblade after Ven's awakening. I think Sora's proved himself enough, but most likely it's going to be an issue in the actual game I think. But also on another note, in your reviews, tell me which Guardians should fight which Seekers of Darkness. :) See ya next time!**


	18. Chapter 18: The X-blade

**The Resolve of All**

Chapter 18: The X-blade

**Play Birth by Sleep OST The Key Theme on a second tab.**

The group of heroes trekked forth towards the dark tower and they eventually made it to the large front doors of the spire. Sora opened the door and let everyone else inside to meet their destiny... As soon as they were all in through, the door magically shut behind them and locked itself.

"We weren't planning on leaving anyway..." Riku remarked.

The first floor of the tower was plain white, strangely resembling Castle Oblivion and its floors. The only route was the stairs ahead so now was the beginning of potentially the end...

"You hear that?" Ven's ears perked up.

"It sounds like..." Xion trailed off.

"A war..." Riku finished.

Indeed, outside the tower the Guardians were definitely hearing the cries of a battle. Distinct sounds of metal slashing against metal. Perhaps their purpose and refuge within the tower was a blessing for them...

"So many people..." Roxas noted.

"This is aweful..." Lea added.

"We can't be sulking here guys." Drex motivated. "The only way to stop this war is to put an end to Xehanort!"

"He's right you know!" Mickey nodded. "Now if you'll excuse me... I gotta help someone."

And without further ado, Mickey sped off toward the stairs, Keyblade in hand, and he was out of sight before any of the others could stop him.

"Your Majesty!"

"Don't worry." Riku comforted everyone. "I'm sure he's got a plan. ...Oh and Sora?"

"Yeah?" Sora responded.

"I never got around to giving you this." Riku stated as he handed Sora a glass bottle.

"What is this?" Sora inquired.

"It's data." Riku answered. "When I had to head back in and wake you up, I met Ansem the Wise, and he gave me the data saying this were the results of his research. I think he wanted you to have it..."

"Thanks Riku, I'll be sure to use it." Sora grinned.

"I don't mean to interrupt, but we should get moving." Aqua motioned them.

"Right." They all said in unison.

"But as soon as they all took another step forward the floor beneath them shattered and there was nothing but a black void below to swallow them all up!

"NO!"

But it was too late... the Guardians were separated and scattered among the tower floors, all destined to have their own fight against a member of the Organization... Their strength will be tested, as will the lights within their hearts...

* * *

"...Behold... my plans have finally been realized!" Master Xehanort smirked.

The old man along with Braig, Xemnas, and Ansem stood on the highest platform of their dark tower headquarters. The four men were witnessing a spectacular sight...

Gigantic dark rifts had cracked across the sky, and they spewed forth Keyblade Wielders from all other worlds, both of light and dark... As though they were destined to be, the two armies clashed, enslaved by the rage of a battle which has doomed them to their fates, on the barren wasteland of this world, which was just awaiting more lifeless keys to occupy its dirt from their deaths...

"So, uhh... where are those Guardians at you old coot?" Braig questioned. "I sure don't see them down there..."

"That is because they've already entered the tower." Ansem responded.

Xehanort cackled evilly. "As I expected... now the 20 pieces necessary are here together..."

"Then bring forth the fruit of our endeavors and summon the ultimate weapon that will secure our victory..." Xemnas requested.

"...Finally... the X-blade..." Master Xehanort marveled as the all-powerful X-blade was summoned in a flurry of light... "It's mine!"

"Not too heavy for ya old timer?" Xigbar joked.

"With this, my strength and endurance is like that from my youth... But they all deserve to witness this power... but not yet..." Xehanort ordered. "Ansem and Xemnas, keep our heroes occupied for now..."

Ansem and Xemnas nodded their heads in compliance and teleported away into darkness to meet their adversaries. Xigbar and Xehanort stayed behind as the older man himself effortlessly lifted his new blade and he pointed it at the sky...

"Here me Kingdom Hearts true, the X-blade calls you to the darkness so that you may start anew! Serve me your worth master by my side, and all the worlds shall collide! We give to you all that we have to offer through this war, all of our hearts, our very core... Reveal thyself! We are in a perfect state, so come forth Kingdom Hearts... and spell our fate!" He chanted.

"You made that up yourself?" Xigbar crossed his arms with a smug smirk.

A dark storm then appeared above then and thunder and lightning flashed and echoed across the now tempest-filled sky. Pinpricks of light peeked out of the black clouds as Kingdom Hearts was struggling to free itself from the Realm of Darkness and appear at the Graveyard. The X-blade then began to glow as a heart-shaped pure white moon was spewed forth from the raging storm...

"So... magnificent... its grace knows no bounds..." Xehanort stated awestruck. "Now... we must-!"

The True Kingdom Hearts then appeared to have a golden sparkly aura around its massive shape and suddenly the moon began to retreat back into the darkness in the sky!

"What?! Impossible!" He remarked.

"Not cool dude. What's happening?!" Xigbar asked in a slight panic.

"...I will not allow such a treasured entity be tainted by your darkness Xehanort! ...I will do everything in my power to prevent such a tragedy!"

Xigbar and Xehanort turned around to see that the culprit was a tall sorcerer in a blue robe and a decorated wizard's hat wielding Fantasia...

"Yen Sid... it's an honor to be in your presence..." Xehanort smirked.

"Xehanort... Kingdom Hearts has no master! Your quest for knowledge has cost the lives of millions and countless worlds!" Yen Sid accused. "There must be balance and I am here to stop you!"

Xehanort calmly pondered his opponent's words and an evil cackle slipped out. "Look around you my dear friend! The Keyblade War is upon us! No one can stop me now! If Eraqus could not defeat me then surely-!"

"Silence!" Yen Sid barked. "How dare you bring Eraqus into this!? He was your comrade and our colleague and you struck him down using his own student!"

"I merely guided everyone to their proper depositions..." Xehanort brushed off. "...But to be fair, I can confide in you that Eraqus has not been vanquished for good, for you see the sly fox found sanctuary within Terra's heart..."

"What...?" Yen Sid was at a loss of words. "Eraqus... he's still out there?"

"Yes. Although my other selves have fragmented and distorted the mixture, a heart is never lost for good..." Xehanort replied.

"That's where you're wrong!"

To everyone's surprise, King Mickey flipped out of nowhere and landed beside his Keyblade Master and friend...

"Mickey! What are you doing here!?" Yen Sid angrily inquired.

"Gosh, I just thought you might need a little help that's all." Mickey returned a kind smile. "Xehanort! Your heart is the one that will be lost for good!"

"Oh yeah..." Xigbar remembered as he summoned his arrowguns. "The little mouse guy. ...This should be fun."

"Meddlesome King..." Master Xehanort sneered. "You have been bothering my plans more than anyone over the past decade... But now witness my true power and be the first to be felled by the legendary X-blade!"

"Here they come..." Mickey warned his Master.

"...It has been an honor to be your teacher Mickey..." Yen Sid confessed.

"...It was an honor to be your apprentice..." Mickey smiled.

Yen Sid's usual frown finally turned into a side smile of his own and he responded. "Let's endure for as long as we can..."

"Right." The mouse agreed.

"I got the little one!" Xigbar claimed as he jumped and hung upside down while fired arrows at Mickey.

Xehanort then teleported away as Mickey was dodging his arrows and Yen Sid gave chase. Mickey then rushed the Freeshooter in an attempt to stop him and help Yen Sid. But Xigbar teleported again and appeared behind the mouse. Mickey flipped above him and fired a ball of light at Xigbar to which he blocked it with one of his arrowguns. The result was that it was shattered and Xigbar only had one gun left.

"You really put me in a pickle." Xigbar stated as he teleported away and reappeared to face the mouse again.

Nearby, Master Xehanort was effortlessly riding a roller coaster of dead keyblades like from before, and Yen Sid was doing the same as they chased each other all around the Graveyard.

"He's only playing games with me..." Yen Sid thought. "But I will make sure he sees otherwise..."

In a spectacular display of magic and power, Yen Sid fired up columns of earth and stone from the ground below, attempting to make Xehanort crash into the obstacles. But the evil man laughed at this effort as he easily dodged and weaved through the rocks, and he even cleanly sliced through one column with the X-blade. Xehanort then turned himself around and fired a beam of darkness at Yen Sid.

Yen Sid dodged the attack via barrel roll and actually collided with Master Xehanort in mid-air. Their Keyblades clashed as they both magically hovered above the tower, and they were both determined to display their power over the other.

...But with all of his might... it wasn't enough... with another push, Xehanort's X-blade cracked Fantasia and eventually the legendary weapon eviscerated his Keyblade...

"I told you... nothing can match the power of the X-blade!" Xehanort laughed as he swung his mighty weapon around and effectively impaled Yen Sid in the chest...

They both fell and Xehanort slammed Yen Sid's body into the top of the tower... Mickey and Xigbar were still fighting nearby, and upon impact, Mickey abandoned his duel and rushed to his Master's side...

"No..." Mickey cried. "You're going to pay for this!"

"Not likely." Xehanort smirked as he slashed Mickey away like he was just an annoying fly.

"Mickey..." Yen Sid slowly stirred as he watched Mickey lose consciousness.

"How disappointing..." Xehanort commented as he placed his foot on Yen Sid's torso to keep him down. "That is the best you have to offer?"

"...No... it's not..." Yen Sid weakly said.

"...You should've seen the light of his eyes... his hope... snuffed out like a dying candle." Xehanort taunted. "However, even at your age... Eraqus would've been impressed that you faced me yourself..."

"...The Guardians of Light will stop you..." Yen Sid responded.

"As if. It won't even matter with the X-blade and Kingdom Hearts on our side." Xigbar smirked as he appeared next to Xehanort. "And then we'll move onto bigger and better things..."

"...Then let's agree to disagree..." Yen Sid panted as he weakly grabbed Xehanort's leg in one hand and Xigbar in another...

Ancient magic only the wisest sorcerer could perform such a spell. A sealing spell with no official name... a power in which one can incapacitate an enemy as long as he maintains physical contact, but this is a last ditch strategy only used when there is no other option. But there's a catch: as long as the spell is active, the host who casts the magic will have his life-force drained...

"...What?! No! You continue to defy me?!" Xehanort angrily stated when he realized he was paralyzed.

"...If I must... I will give everything I have to buy them more time!" Yen Sid proclaimed. "Sora... Riku... everyone... hurry..."

* * *

"...uh... ouch..." Drex groggily stood up as he examined his surroundings.

It looked like he was in the same place as before when he was with the others. It was still just a plain white floor with nothing special to notice about it... except...

"Where are the stairs?" Drex questioned out loud.

"You need to defeat us to move forward..."

"Huh?"

"Defeat us to move forward..."

A dark corridor appeared and Mona stepped out of it to face her opponent. Her expression was stoic, but her amber eyes were full of sadness and regret. Surprisingly, her long blonde hair had turned silver-grey, which meant that she had stepped further into the transformation of Xehanort... Was this even her anymore...?

**Play Abraham's Daughter - arcade fire (piano version) - by sam yung on a second tab.**

"Mona... what happened to you?" Drex asked as he lowered his Keyblade.

"They... I..." She couldn't even respond.

"What did they do to you?!" He demanded.

"This... isn't me Drex..." Mona sobbed. "The darkness... is forcing me to face you..."

"N-no! You're stronger than this!" Drex pleaded. "We can get you help! We can-!"

Mona threateningly summoned her own Keyblade and pointed at her closest friend... "You can't... We both know how this is going to end..."

"Please... don't do this..." Drex begged. "I don't want to fight you..."

"I know..." Mona nodded. "But you have to... Brendan..." She gave one of those sweet familiar smiles he cherished so much. "...Please set my heart free."

And that was when she charged at him. Mona slashed at Drex's side to which he reluctantly blocked. Mona then cast a freezing spell in her other hand and tried to punch her friend with an icy fist. Drex jumped back from her attack and responded by launching a fire spell from his own hand.

Mona dodged the fireball and continued her advance as she locked Keyblades with Drex once more. Tears were spilling from both of their eyes as their only wish was not to fight. But tragically, that cannot be the case...

Drex pushed her back and tried to disarm her Keyblade in the hopes that this would quell their battle, but she instinctively defended herself and countered with a blow to Drex's head.

Drex quickly got back up and recovered himself, although he was still a little woozy from the attack and he fell to one knee. Mona then took this opportunity to repeatedly strike Drex's Keyblade over and over... and over...

Drex was about to give out from the onslaught of her relentless attack when his own instincts kicked in and he swept Mona's feet right out from under her and he knocked her Keyblade off to the other side of the white room... He was then on top of her and he pointed his own Keyblade at her heart...

"I love you..." Mona whispered.

"...I love you too..." Drex sobbed as he fired a beam of light into her chest...

Upon contact with the light... her eyes changed back to their normal icy blue and her hair changed back to the usual ashy blonde...

Her body trembled from the sudden reversion, but she had a loving and thankful smile sprawled across her angelic face as she began to fade away into nothingness...

Drex then knelt down beside her and cradled her in his arms as he took both of her hands and he just... begged her not go yet...

"I'm sorry... I'm... I'm so sorry..." Drex pleaded once more. "Why...? Why did this have to happen...? Mona... stay with me... stay with me... please Mona..."

She never heeded his pleas and calls to return as she just continued to fade away peacefully... And before he even knew it, Drex became speechless as he was momentarily alone on the desolate white floor again... until some familiar footsteps came up behind the crying brunette...

"She wanted you to finish her..." Skyler stated. "This way... it would force you to let her go... Our friendship... your love... this war is so much bigger than either of those things..."

Skyler had returned, however it looked like Xylersk's personality had taken hold of the purple-haired man once again...

"...Shut up."

Skyler continued. "You must understand that it will have to be you or me again. Xehanort made sure of all of this."

"...I said... shut up..." Drex stood up with his head till facing downward.

"Because of Xehanort putting a tighter foothold within my own heart I too have gained a Keyblade..." Skyler summoned his new Keyblade.

Lost Abyss is a Keyblade that is seemingly made up of dark thorns that covers the entire weapon. This Keyblade is usually given to those who use Darkness or are consumed by it. The teeth of this Keyblade make up a heart shaped symbol. On its hilt is a bat wing with 3 talons and on the shaft is 5 yellow-green eyeballs, giving it a demonic look.

"...I don't care..." Drex brushed off, his eyes still downcast.

"I've battled you twice so far, and sparred with you countless times back home." Skyler remembered as he pointed Lost Abyss at Drex who weirdly enough dropped his own Keyblade and it was dismissed...

"Are you giving up already Brendan?" Syler inquired.

"No..." Drex finally meet his opponent's eyes and Skyler was unnerved and startled at what he saw.

"So... what are you going to do...?" Skyler nervously questioned.

Drex continued to stare him down with blood-red eyes as he barred his sharpened teeth and growled. "I'm going to kill you..."

* * *

"Oh man... what happened?" Lea looked around and it seemed like he was on the same but different floor of the tower. "Reminds me of Castle Oblivion..."

Almost as if he were he knew he was there Lea turned around, summoned his Keyblade, and he meet his own opponent...

"I hope you're ready..." Isa stated as he brandished his claymore.

"Trust me... things won't end up like last time." Lea smirked.

"Why... why do you continue to work against me?" Isa wondered. "Have you forgotten all of those memories?"

"Of course not!" Lea retorted. "Otherwise... this wouldn't be so hard... Isa..."

"Axel... don't you dare hold back on me this time!" Isa coldly remarked.

"It's Lea now... always has been, always will be. Got it memorized?"

"...Different name, same fate." Isa remarked.

And then the two former best friends clashed...

* * *

**A/N- Sorry for the slow updates. School's hitting me hard. Real hard. But I'll try my best to give you guys your 'Resolve of All' medicine at least weekly. Haha. Sorry again, but hey that's my life.  
**

**By the way, don't spam me about the specifics of KH lore. The X-blade, the 13, and the 7... it's complicated enough already, I'm just going to keep it as simple and easy to follow as possible.**

**Will Yen Sid be able to hold them off long enough until the others can reach the top? And what's happening to Drex?! Will Lea be able to defeat Isa this time around? And can you guys guess who I'm pairing the others up to fight each other? ...Also, what could be in the bottle given to Sora? Find out more next time! :) See ya.**


	19. Chapter 19: The Fight Continues

**The Resolve of All**

Chapter 19: The Fight Continues

**Play the KH Black Powder Battle Theme on a second tab.**

"...Uh... where are we...?" Kairi groggily awakened.

"We're in a cell Kairi."

"Namine?"

"Yeah. Take a look." The blonde motioned.

Kairi got herself back up and realized that indeed they were in a prison cell. A dark and lonely place for two girls, they needed to escape as soon as possible.

"Come on! We gotta get out of here!" Namine stated.

"How do we do that?" Kairi asked.

Namine then summoned an exact copy of Kairi's Destiny's Embrace Keyblade and she slammed it against the cell door.

"...Uh... I don't think that's work-!"

"I opened it!" She beamed.

"Oh... alright." Kairi accepted as she and her Nobody stepped outside and into a hallway. "That seemed a little too easy..."

Suddenly, a blast of energy jetted down the hall, intent on destroying the two girls!

"Look out!" Namine pushed her back into the cell as she took the full force of the attack!

"Namine!"

"You little girls really shouldn't wander off like that..."

"Huh?" Kairi peeked out of the hallway to identify the perpetrator. "That voice..."

"...Otherwise I just might have to teach you a lesson you'll never forget." Vanitas smirked.

"Y-You! Vanitas!" Kairi hissed with a slight blush.

Vanitas laughed. "Or were you just itching to get another taste of me?"

"You freak!" Kairi was furious, but then she noticed that Namine was at the other end of the hall unconscious and wounded. She had to get to her...

"I can't check on Namine with Vanitas here. He'll get to me first." Kairi thought. "I guess I'll just have to fight!"

Kairi brandished Destiny's Embrace and was about to charge at Vanitas when suddenly a blonde blur came swooping out of nowhere and slammed Vanitas so hard he smashed through the wall and into the next larger room.

"What...? Who?" Kairi was astonished by her savior.

"Kairi... you better grab Namine and find Sora and the others... I'll take care of Vanitas." Ven affirmed.

"Ven... Thank you." Kairi nodded as she ran towards Namine to escape.

Ven then stepped throught the hole in the wall to join Vanitas who was being helped up by one of his allies...

"You're too arrogant Van." Fate exasperated as she picked him up.

"But this is just too good." Vanitas grinned. "It's just like old times... Ventus."

"Vanitas... you're my responsibility so... let's just... finish this." Ven sighed as he wielded Wayward Wind.

"What's wrong? Not feeling up for it?" Vanitas taunted. "Well too bad! Your better half will be your undoing!"

"And it's two against one!" Fate added. "You're at a disadvantage!"

"Nope! It sure is three against two now! Right, Donald?"

"You got it Goofy!" Donald quacked.

"You guys?" Ven finally noticed the Captain of the Royal Knights and the Court Mage on either side of him.

"Venquest... uh... Venter... uh..." Goofy struggled.

"Wak! Just call him Ven!" Donald stated.

"Ven's our friend. And friends don't leave each other behind!"

"Goofy..."

"And we're going to blow you big palookas back to where you came!" Donald quacked.

"Donald..."

"Have it your way then..." Vanitas smirked. "Let's fight!"

"Come on!" Ven declared as the three of them charged at the two.

Vanitas and Fate dashed towards Ventus, Donald, and Goofy. Fate splintered off and took on Donald and Goofy while Ven and Vanitas were fighting one another.

"This is meaningless! You've already lost!" Vanitas shouted as he traded blows with the blonde.

"What do you mean?!" Ven pried.

"The Master has already forged the X-blade!"

"No way..."

"Nothing will stop him now!" Vanitas laughed manically.

"Shuddup you big palooka!" Donald quaked as he shocked Vanitas with a thunder spell.

Vanitas shrugged off the lightning as if it was nothing. Then he turned his attention towards the duck in question, and Donald was surprisingly ready to take on such a strong enemy.

"You'll regret that..." Vaintas sneered as he dashed at Donald now.

But then something unexpected happened... in the chaos of the battle, Goofy tripped over his own two feet while trying to throw his shield at Vanitas, but instead it hit Fate and the impact of Goofy's misfired attack knocked her in front of Donald...

It was too late... he couldn't stop himself as Vanitas unintentionally stabbed Fate through her chest...

"Van… you? Why...?" Fate whispered.

"...You got in my way..." Vanitas simply stated still holding this position.

But Vanitas held her there for a second too long as Ven took the precious opportunity to get behind Vanitas himself as he stabbed his dark half lethally through the back...

"...I'm sorry Van..." Ven apologized.

The three of them were still connected as Van and Fate were slowly slipping away and fading into nothingness…

"...I lost to you again..." Vanitas admitted. "...I guess that makes me a bigger loser than you..."

"...Thank you all... for freeing me..." Fate stated in gratitude as she disappeared into wisps of light...

Vanitas was the next to go as he slowly faded into a blur of dark colors and then he gave a content kind smile knowing that this was the end of the line for him...

"I want you to know that you still matter Van..." Ven comforted as he pulled his Keyblade out of Van's back to look him in the eyes.

"Hmph, I know that." Van extended his fading hand to his other self. "See you next time, loser."

Ven was only able to shake his hand for a second as Vanitas faded into nothingness himself now...

"Good riddance!" Donald quacked.

"Donald..." Goofy shushed him. "Ven, you alright?"

Ven examined his own hand for a moment before responding. "I'm... okay."

"Then let's hurry up and find the others!" Donald proclaimed.

"Let's go." Ven nodded as the three walked off.

* * *

In another part of the Tower, Roxas and Xion were wandering a hallway together looking for their friends. They were able to stay together while everyone else was separated.

"Xion, we have to make our way to the top." Roxas pointed upwards.

"Sounds good." Xion agreed.

But then, as they both walked into a more larger open room, the couple noticed two familiar faces blocking the stairs beyond them.

"Well... looks like we get to fight them again." Mark crossed his arms.

"We're stronger now. We can win for the Master." Alliana added as she and Mark summoned their swords.

"You! You two made Roxas and I fight each other! For that... I'll never forgive you!" Xion cursed.

"Xion... calm down!" Roxas attempted to quell her rage.

"Roxas is back and you're in control again." Mark responded. "I'm interested as to how this all came to be but it matters not..."

"Our existence here is to serve the Master. Nothing more, nothing less." Alliana declared.

"What about your friends?!" Roxas replied. "Don't you care about them?!"

"...The bonds that I had are cut by now...severed by the darkness..." Mark confessed. "I just wish it was a little different."

"Yeah." Alliana agreed. "Ever since we left our world... we all dreamed of returning home. But... that that's not going to happen..."

"Then why are you fighting?" Roxas inquired.

"...Because... we have no choice!" Mark charged at the couple followed by Alliana. "Allons-y!"

Roxas and Xion summoned their Keyblades as the four of them clashed once more. Roxas was mainly fighing Alliana while Xion took out her frustration on Mark. Their power was staggering as the whole room shook with each collision of metal striking metal.

Roxas then noticed that Mark had struck down Xion to the ground. He was about to finish her off when Roxas threw Oblivion in a strike raid motion and the Keyblade impaled itself in Mark's back.

"Argh!" Mark cringed from the blow as Xion stabbed her own Keyblade into Mark's chest... "This is it...?"

"Mark!" Alliana shouted making her distacted. She didn't even notice Roxas firing a beam of light from Oathkeeper which hit its target... and Alliana fell to the ground as well...

The Keyblades were dismissed, and Roxas and Xion watched as Alliana and Mark writhed in despair, coming closer and closer to their demise...

"Alliana..." Mark reached out to his friend.

"What?" She sobbed.

"We can finally go home…" He smiled as he faded away into nothingness first...

Alliana was slipping away too, so she weakly turned her head to speak to Roxas and Xion. She was barely able to get out the words as she spoke...

"Promise me..."

"Promise you what?" Xion inquired.

"Take care... never... stop... caring..." She finally faded into wisps of light and Roxas and Xion were alone once again...

Xion suddenly found herself close to tears, feeling sorry for the people they had to strike down and she found comfort in Roxas's embrace.

"Weren't we just like them once?" Xion cried.

"...All the more reason to stop Xehanort... Let's keep moving Xion." Roxas consoled.

* * *

"This is impossible..." Isa clutched his right shoulder in agony. "...How are you stronger?"

Lea panted. "I was just about to say the same thing..."

"Imbecile! I will not be defeated by the likes of you!" Isa coldly responded.

"Nah... I see things going a different way Isa." Lea raised his hand, about to snap his fingers. "But really, no hard feelings... got it memorized?"

Lea snapped his fingers and Isa burst into red flames. As he burnt to a crisp, he fell down to the ground and dismissed his claymore. The flames were dying down, and Isa was defeated...

"I hope that in death you'll finally see the light." Lea sighed. "I didn't want this to happen to you..."

And as Isa faded away before Lea into the darkness, he muttered. "...I'm sorry."

And then Lea was all alone again, and the pyro could only keep moving forward to find the rest of his friends...

* * *

"Are you giving up already Brendan?" Syler inquired.

"No..." Drex finally meet his opponent's eyes and Skyler was unnerved and startled at what he saw.

"So... what are you going to do...?" Skyler nervously questioned.

Drex continued to stare him down with blood-red eyes as he barred his sharpened teeth. "I'm going to kill you..."

"-!" Skyler was astonished by the bloodlust and the rage in those eyes, what was he?! "Are you some kind of monster?!"

Before he could get a response Drex clutched his head with both hands in clear agony and despair.

"Argh! No! I won't…! It hurts... so much! The pain... why... why is this happening...?"

"Maybe you really are cursed." Skyler responded. "If you'll allow me... I'll do you the service and put you to rest!"

Skyler dashed at the writhing Drex with his new Keyblade in hand. He jabbed at him, but at the last second Drex dodged it and jumped out of harm's way.

"You don't want this?" Skyler inquired. "After destroying our home... putting an end to Mona... did any of that matter to you...?"

Drex did not give a response as he was still struggling with the war that was going on inside of him.

"Brendan, why do keep on fighting?!" Skyler demanded.

"...Because..." Drex put his hands down to his sides. "...Because my resolve won't let me quit..."

"Huh?"

"I fight because my friends need me!" Drex declared with proud brown eyes and he re-summoned his Keyblade. "Nothing will stand in my way!"

"...Then prove it." Skyler got into his battle stance. "One more time!"

The two friends clashed at one another. The speeds of both opponents were incredible as they dashed and chased each other all around the room. Cutting and slashing, both sides made their marks on the other...

Drex slashed across, but Skyler blocked it with Lost Abyss as they held each other there. The memories of the two's past standoffs rippled through their minds. This was it for them... their final bout...

"You..." Skyler gritted his teeth as he pressed against Drex's Keyblade. "You need to press onward, help the others, stop Xehanort, and end this war!"

"And what about you?" Drex responded.

"...I'm going to make you go!" Skyler declared as he formed a darkness bomb in his own hand!

"No!"

Drex had no choice but to cast a reflecting spell and jump back to avoid the blast zone. The bomb in Skyler's hand exploded and he was obliterated into the dark abyss...

Then the silence permeated throughout the room from the aftermath of the battle...

"You stupid idiot... no..." Drex fell to his knees in disbelief.

Drex knew this had to come to an end, but that doesn't make it any less painful...

Drex sighed and picked himself back up. "...I'm so tired... so tired of fighting... Please... let this end soon..."

And he wandered forward, heading towards the peak of the tower...

* * *

Aqua was running down another hallway in another part of the spire when she came across the one man she had hoped to find. He was waiting for her in a large white room...

"Terra..." Aqua momentarily forgot that this was not Terra.

"Pitiful... You still believe he is here." Terranort stated. "However it will be rather amusing to fight you again..."

"Good! I'll make sure Terra returns! I swear it!" Aqua proclaimed.

"-! You!" Terranort's eyes widened in surprise and he looked... scared.

"Huh?" Aqua turned around and she gasped at who it was.

There beside Master Aqua... was a Lingering Will... and after ten years he may finally get his body back...

* * *

**A/N- I apologize for the short fights, but I do not feeling like writing out 10 chapters full of fighting. Forgive me if this seemed rushed, but I hope it makes up in ****dialogue.  
**

**Many have fallen in this chapter, who will be next? Will Kairi and Namine run into friends or enemies? Could there be a way to bring back those who have met their ends? Things are coming to a head as the climax of this story will continue next time! :) A few reviews couldn't hurt ;)**


	20. Chapter 20: Reunions

**The Resolve of All**

Chapter 20: Reunions

"Terra..." Aqua momentarily forgot that this was not Terra.

"Pitiful... You still believe he is here." Terranort stated as he placed a hand over his chest. "However, it will be rather amusing to fight you again..."

"Fine! I'll make sure Terra has his heart returned! I swear it!" Aqua proclaimed.

"-! You!" Terranort's eyes widened in surprise and he looked... scared.

"Huh?" Aqua turned around and she gasped at who it was.

There beside Master Aqua... was a Lingering Will... and after ten years he may finally get his body back...

**Play the KH Rage Awakened Theme on a second tab.**

"Terra...?" Aqua was dumbfounded.

"Fools... do you really believe after all this time... Terra is still within me?! ...He has fallen into the abyss farther than anyone! Nothing can bring his heart to salvation!" Terranort declared.

"...Xe...ha...nort..." The Lingering Will bellowed. "Xehanort!"

"Right! Together we can rescue Terra and take back his body!" Aqua affirmed as she wielded her Keyblade. "Terra will be saved! I know it!"

"Talk all you want! But don't bother; you will be joining Terra as I cast you both into oblivion! Eeearrgggaahhh!" Terranort roared as he summoned his Guardian to aid him in battle!

The Lingering Will lurched forward in a fury, determined to retrieve his body while Aqua did her best to flank their enemy.

Terranort gave a smug smirk as the Guardian disappeared and he himself disappeared into the portal he created beneath him. Confused, his opponents searched the area on where he would pop up next, but a dark hand emerged from beneath Aqua and grabbed her with all of its might!

"Terra! Help!" She called out to her friend.

The Lingering Will complied as he dashed and sliced the shadow hand across the wrist, dismissing the attack and releasing the blue-haired Keyblade Master.

"Thanks." Aqua said in relief. Why wasn't she more careful?

The Armor nodded in response as they both stared down Terranort and the Guardian as they both emerged from the darkness in the other side of the room.

The Guardian then swung his powerful arms and launched his lightning wave attack at them. Aqua and the Armor swerved and dodged as they closed in on their enemies. The Lingering Will summoned a giant fire ball and launched it at the two, but the Guardian teleported in front of Terranort to take the full force of the attack.

Through the smoke of the resulting explosion, Terranort charged at Aqua wielding his own Keyblade. But before she could get away, the Guardian appeared behind her and grabbed her by both of her arms!

"Let go of me!" Aqua struggled against its strong grip.

But before Terranort could get to the blue-haired Keyblade Master, the Lingering Will intercepted with his back facing the charging enemy. As the Armor took the stab in his back from Terranort, the Lingering Will fired a beam of light from his Ends of the Earth which hit its mark right between the eyes of the Guardian resulting in Aqua's release.

"Terra!" Aqua yelled after she took notice that the Guardian had dissipated.

Then something weird happened next, Terranort's Keyblade was stuck in the back plate of the armor!

"...You empty husk of metal! Release me!" Terranort demanded while the Armor gave no compliance.

Then, as though a miracle had happened, the Armor enabled his Will's Cage ability and chains erupted from the back of the armor plating itself and it wrapped around Terranort, leaving him completely immobilized!

Then the Armor commanded the chains to pull in Terranort even closer together as a bright light began to shine between them! The light was so bright; it even blinded Aqua for a bit...

Was this... Terra taking his body back?

When the bright beacon of light faded from their battlefield, Aqua opened her eyes to see that she was all alone except for a little shard of light dancing across the room with a misty darkness clouding its shine.

"Xehanort!" Aqua sensed its darkness behind it as the familiar darkness she always battled before.

She then took it upon herself to destroy it and she did make quick work of the fragment of the evil man's heart. But now that she was alone... where was Terra?

"Terra...?" Aqua looked around the room for her friend, maybe even the Armor.

"Aqua!"

Aqua's ears perked up as she recognized the voice of her little blond friend and even the calls of that dog and duck.

"Ven! Donald and Goofy..." Aqua smiled as the three of them approached her.

"Are you okay?" Ven inquired.

"I'm okay Ven." Aqua assured her friends.

"Well come on! We hafta keep climbin!" Donald quacked as he sprinted towards the stairs to the next floor, Goofy soon followed.

"Are you sure Aqua?" Ven pried.

"...Let's just keep moving Ven..." Aqua stated sadly.

Ven finally nodded in agreement as they both made their way to the stairs...

"You two leaving without me?"

Aqua and Ven stopped right in their tracks as they turned around to meet their friend for the first time in ten years... he didn't look like he aged a day...

"Terra!" They cried as they both ran forth to embrace him...

* * *

"...My many selves are falling victim to those who guard the light..." Young Xehanort preached to the disgruntled Roxas and Xion. "However, only one of us needs to survive and then we can start anew. I cannot be destroyed for I can only return to my own time to begin all of these events which are meant to happen!"

"Are you done blathering? Or can we just plow through you already?" Roxas taunted menacingly.

"Such insolence..." Young Xehanort muttered in frustration as he raised a hand.

**Play the KH BBS Dark Impetus Battle Theme on a second tab.**

"You all shall wander forever in the bottomless depths of darkness!" He bellowed.

"Get ready Roxas! Here he comes!" Xion warned.

"Begone!" Young Xehanort shouted as he summoned his Time Keyblade, No Name.

"Xion, let's go!" Roxas affirmed.

Roxas and Xion charged at the Xehanort from the most distant past. Roxas slashed down at him with Oblivion, but he merely dodged it and blew the blonde away with wind magic. Xion then flanked and landed a hit against his shoulder, however Young Xehanort spun himself around and slashed into Xion's side, batting her away like an annoying fly.

"Xion!" Roxas cried.

Xion landed across the room like a rag-doll, but somehow she found herself on her feet once more.

"I'm okay, Roxas!"

"Are you?"

"Huh?"

"I thought you were stronger than that Xion." Drex smirked as he placed a hand on her shoulder and cast a healing spell on her.

"Drex! You're here!" Xion beamed.

"Yeah I am." Drex said stoically. "Let's talk in a bit though, okay?"

"Right." She nodded.

"Prepare yourselves!" Young Xehanort growled as he fired a ball of darkness at Roxas!

Roxas was about to block the attack when a certain pyro beat him to the punch and knocked the energy ball out of the park to save his friend.

"Lea?!" Roxas questioned. "You're here too?"

"Seems like as good a place as any." Lea grinned. "Stay on your toes with this guy!"

Four against one now; Roxas, Xion, Lea, and Drex surrounded Young Xehanort wielding their Keyblades...

Drex charged at Xehanort and locked keys with him, holding him in place. Lea and Xion flacked them on both sides and dashed at him to perform a crisscross attack.

Young Xehanort jumped back into the air to avoid the two, but then he saw that Roxas was there and was flying right into him! Roxas performed a powerful combo on Young Xehanort and the blonde swung downwards and smacked him down towards the ground. Drex then set him back up like he was a volleyball and Xion came a blazing as she placed a lethal blow on Young Xehanort as well. Lea then conjured up a fire spell and launched it to finish him but Xehanort teleported away to avoid this attack.

He then appeared before the four of them, appearing to be weakened and wounded.

"How... how can this happen again?" Young Xehanort clutched his shoulder as he remembered his last conflict with these people.

"History tends to repeat itself." Lea smirked as he pointed his Keyblade at Xehanort.

"When all else fails, you have to stand by your friends..." Drex mirrored Lea.

"...and fight till the end with them." Xion copied her friends as well.

"Our friendship is stronger than anything you can throw at us. That's why we can..." Roxas raised Oblivion and Oathkeeper at Xehanort as well.

"Change our Fate!" They all declared as they fired beams of light at their enemy.

Young Xehanort put up his most powerful barrier in attempt to block the oncoming attack, but upon contact with the beams of light, the barrier shattered into a million pieces as their five beams pierced him through the chest... and before he even hit the ground... he faded away back to his own time, for good.

"We did it!" Xion smiled. "And my boys are back together again!"

"It's been a while since we all fought together like this, right?" Lea smirked as he put his arms around all of them in an attempt for a group hug.

"Get off of me!" Drex hissed as he pulled away from the other three.

"What's wrong Drex?" Roxas inquired.

"...You guys have no idea, do you?" Drex leered at them. "Do you?!"

"What? ...You mean your other friends?" Xion guessed.

"Just don't Xion. Please." Drex shut himself down at this.

"This isn't the time to have a meltdown Drex. We gotta find the others." Lea motioned him.

"Lea... I had to... kill Mona." Drex confessed.

They all tried to express their concern. But only Lea replied "...Oh... I'm so sorry I-!"

"Don't be sorry guys. I just... I'm so tired of everything..." Drex admitted depressingly.

"Well, we're almost through, okay? Just one more push and we can go home." Roxas comforted.

Drex sighed. "Alright. Let's go..."

The four of them reunited, they headed towards the last floor before the top of the tower...

* * *

**Play the L'Oscurita dell'Iggnoto (Xemnas 3D) Battle Theme on a second tab.**

"Ansem!" Riku bellowed. "Where are you?!"

The Seeker of Darkness then appeared behind Master Riku as he reached out to grab his shoulder. Riku noticed this and he jumped back to face his own demons as well as this opponent to boot.

"My shadow still lingers within your heart. You will never be rid of me Riku." Ansem stated as he crossed his arms.

"It doesn't matter. You said so yourself that I'm resistant to the darkness." Riku replied.

"Perhaps, however... there may come the day where your heart will weaken and the darkness will ravage your entire being, you can make no mistake of that." Ansem responded.

"That's not going to stop me from defeating you! Here and now!" Riku proclaimed as he wielded his Way to the Dawn.

"Boy, if you do not heed my words then-!"

It happened so fast... Riku had sped to near light speeds determined to finally put an end to the being that has caused him such grief and suffering for so long...

Riku had effectively stabbed Ansem, Seeker of Darkness, in the chest... a deadly blow.

"You have grown stronger..." Ansem barely got out.

"This is... the end..." Riku growled.

"Hardly... You still have the Master to deal with..." Ansem stated. "You'll need all of the strength you can muster to stand against him..."

"I intend to." Riku simply replied as he pulled his Keyblade out of the fading Ansem. "We'll win and protect the light."

"...Your struggle is futile... the light will always be endangered by the everlasting darkness..." He weakly argued.

"Then we will always guard the light from the darkness!" Riku retorted as Ansem faded away into nothingness...

"Time to keep moving."

* * *

"Sora... Why do you and the Guardians continue to keep on fighting?" Xemnas inquired.

"...Because no one else will!" Sora affirmed as he slashed at Xemnas, but the man dodged it.

Sora gave chase to Xemnas around the identical room that everyone else was fighting in and eventually he caught up to him.

Sora got above Xemnas and slammed his Kingdom Key downward. Xemnas attempted to block with his guard ability, but Sora faked him out and used areo magic to swing himself around the barrier and uppercut Xemnas into the back. He then followed it up with a critically powerful combo. Xemnas winced in pain as he took refuge in a ball of darkness and moved himself away from Sora and back to the ground.

He then emerged back out ready for another round. "I will not allow it to end this way... not yet."

Xemnas then summoned his thorns of darkness which spurted from his hand and they quickly wrapped around Sora, incapacitating him.

"Arrgg! Let go!" Sora gritted.

Almost like before, Sora's power was being drained from the thorns and he was the mercy of Xemnas.

"...So much for the Keyblade Hero..." Xemnas said disappointingly.

And just like that, the thorns were cut, not by one but two saviors...

"Sora!" Kairi called out to him as he hit the ground from fatigue.

"Is he okay?" Namine worriedly asked.

"Yeah, he's fine." Kairi relieved when she noticed he was still breathing. "Sora! Wake up!"

"Huh?" Sora woozily woke up with his head resting in Kairi's lap then he jerked upward on his own feet. "Kairi, move! Xemnas is still here!"

"So... Namine you have developed your own existence as well?" Xemnas inquired.

"Yeah, I have." Namine stood proud. "And I'm going to use it to help destroy you."

"Are you? You and what army?"

"This army." Kairi grinned.

And Xemnas turned around to see Roxas, Xion, Lea, Drex, Terra, Aqua, Ventus, Donald, Goofy, and Riku standing before him as their Keyblades rose...

"...It looks like... my time has come..." Xemnas accepted.

And in another instant, Xemnas was vanquishd in an obliteration of crisscrossing light beam attacks. He would've made Swiss cheese look good. But then eventually, Xemnas faded away from existence as well...

"We did it!" Sora exclaimed.

"Not yet we didn't." Riku warned them. "There's still two more we have to take care of."

"Yeah, Master Xehanort." Ven piped up.

"And Xigbar." Lea added.

"You mean Braig?" Aqua chimed in.

"It doesn't matter, with twelve of us on the way, Xehanort doesn't stand a chance. We can do this! We can end this war! Who's with me!?

Everyone cheered in support of this cause as they all filed up to the top of the tower for sure this time... What destines would meet them in their final battle, they wouldn't know yet...

* * *

**A/N- And so, Terra reclaimed his own body and he stands with his friends in the final battle. What could be in store for these heroes as they face their last surviving opponents? What could be the fates of Yen Sid and Mickey? Find out next time in The Resolve of All!**

**Let me give a shout out to my new friend ArcsageSaleth. Check out his awesome KH story, Bonds of the Heart, I certainly am. Review! :)**


	21. Chapter 21: Sacrifice

**The Resolve of All**

Chapter 21: Sacrifice

**Play KH Battle OST- Light of the Worlds on a second tab.**

"I... I can't hold out any longer..." Yen Sid coughed. "...I have no more power left to give..."

And as he said his last words, Yen Sid released his grip from Master Xehanort and Braig and he peacefully closed his eyes...

Mickey finally stirred from his unconscious and was horrified at the sight of these villains triumphing over his Master. "Master Yen Sid! No!"

As Mickey tried to charge at last two seekers of darkness, Master Xehanort scoffed at the little mouse king's efforts and swung the X-blade to conjure up a gust of powerful winds to blow away Mickey.

Mickey landed a little ways away from the fading body of Yen Sid, Xehanort, and Braig, near the stairs which led to the ground floor.

Sadly, the last of Yen Sid's being had finally faded away completely, and the only thing that was left behind was his magical sorcerer's hat...

"Ha! Finally, I can progress the final steps of my plan..." Master Xehanort smirked maliciously as he turned his attention toward the slowly emerging heart-shaped moon being pulled out of the black clouds.

"Think again, old man!"

"No way..." Braig and his superior turned their attention to Riku who had spoken and was cradling the wounded Mickey in his arms.

"So... you all have come this far... and all of you have survived... I must say, I am impressed." Master Xehanort addressed the whole group of Guardians. "But... you are too late! Events have been set into such a motion that nothing can stop me now!"

"Yeah, you dudes are just wasting your time now..." Braig grinned as he picked up Yen Sid's hat and he tossed it towards them like it was trash. "...This old dude sure didn't get the picture."

"You... you defeated Yen Sid?!" Sora angrily inquired.

"Indeed. But do not worry; you all will be joining him very soon." Master Xehanort declared as he raised the X-blade for all to see. "Behold... the X-blade! The ultimate weapon to unlock the True Kingdom Hearts and all the power I will ever need!"

"The X-blade... he has it..." Ven trembled.

"Not for long Ven." Terra assured his blonde friend. "We'll make him pay! Right, Aqua?"

"Right." Aqua nodded.

"He caused all of this..." Roxas realized. "This man hurt so many..."

"But now we'll bring him to justice." Xion affirmed.

"We'll win definitely, got it memorized?" Lea stated.

"The sooner this is over, the better." Drex added.

"Yeah! We got all of our friends by our sides." Goofy responded.

"Your Majesty!" Donald quacked as he used a healing spell on his King. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, but..." Mickey then instinctively put on Yen Sid's hat. "...they sure won't be."

"You ready Riku?" Namine inquired.

"Always." Riku nodded.

"Sora... I'll always fight by your side, no matter what!" Kairi proclaimed.

"Thanks Kairi." Sora smiled. "Alright, let's finish this!"

"Looks like their pep talk is over." Braig smirked. "Why don't we get the show started you old coot?"

"Witness MY power as I carve out this land to bring forth the forces to make it MY domain!" Master Xehanort cackled evilly as he jumped high into the air and into a portal of darkness.

"Hey! You just going to abandon me or-?!" Braig lost his footing as the whole tower began to shake as if an earthquake were taking place.

"What's going on?!" Xion called out.

"I don't know!" Roxas responded.

Back on the battlefield, where warriors of the Keyblade were slaughtering each other on both sides of light and darkness, the earth began to split open, and a huge fissure cracked the barren wasteland as far as the eye could see. Then slowly but surely, magma began to rise from the fissure and it turned to lava. Then earth itself began to turn inside-out and a volcano rose from the fissure so high that it's elevation equaled that of the tower.

"A volcano?!" Sora exclaimed.

"Wait a minute... this is..." Riku realized what was going to happen next.

Master Xehanort then reappeared in front of the white heart-shaped moon, levitating in mid-air. "Send your most worthy to face me while the rest face the devil himself!"

Master Xehanort then disappeared in a flash of light as he took refuge in the True Kingdom Hearts...

"So you're going to just ditch me here?! As if!" Braig bellowed as he made a beeline for the moon himself until the volcano erupted with a vertical column of lava blocking his escape.

"...I remember now." Mickey said worriedly.

Out of the vertical lava column emerged two giant black wings then followed a monster the likes of which are only told in nightmares and stories that spell endings...

Chernabog... his evil golden eyes are perhaps even worse than Xehanort himself. A demon... no, a devil, from the depths of Hell with the power of a god himself staring down at his opponents who were ready to take him on...

Chernabog roared as he crossed his arms in superiority and he got ready for battle.

"Oh wow... I think this is awesome..." Braig smirked as he teleported out of the way. "And I think he's on my side."

The great and powerful demon god bellowed as he spewed forth a deadly fire from the pits of his stomach and towards the heroes of the light!

"Look out!" Mickey commanded as the group took evasive action.

As the Keybladers scattered to avoid the fire, three of these Guardians were separated from the main part of the team. These three heroes had a clear path to chase after Xehanort, but could they really leave their friends behind? Nevertheless, Riku made the decision for them.

Riku shouted. "Sora! You, Roxas, and Ventus go after Xehanort; the rest of us will take care of them!"

"No way! We stand together!" Sora replied.

"There's no time to argue, you three get going!" Drex retorted.

"I'll go." Roxas agreed.

"Me too. Come on Sora." Ven motioned.

"Alright." Sora finally nodded.

"Good luck you guys." Aqua wished off.

Xion prayed. "You three make it back in one piece."

"Please be safe..." Kairi wished.

"I'll send ya up there with my magic." Mickey responded as he waved his fingers and conjured some magic to levitate them and pursue Xehanort into the True Kingdom Hearts...

"Uh... guys? I know some of us are already missing them, but we gotta deal with Handsome up there!" Lea motioned towards Chernabog.

"Everyone! Follow my lead!" Riku declared as he led the charge...

* * *

...If heaven existed...

...It would be here.

The absolute magnificence and beauty and perfection radiated from Kingdom Hearts for miles, if not worlds, away.

Sora, Roxas, and Ventus were the very lucky few who were bestowed the honor of being this close and eventually entering the one and only place that was the source of all light!

They were about to enter... and follow Xehanort into the final battle; the three of them had to win... for everyone.

"You guys ready?" Sora inquired from the two identical blondes.

"You bet." Ven nodded.

"Yeah." Roxas affirmed.

"Alright. Let's go..." Sora continued forward.

The three boys were destined to be worthy of entering this now tainted sanctuary for this specific purpose. Right now... it was either victory... or oblivion...

The door was closed behind them... no going back.

The three boys rubbed their eyes to get used to their new surroundings, but they were surprised to see that they were in a completely black room. No walls... no ceiling... only an apparent floor to stand on and an infinite abyss...

There... he who dared to acquire the powers of a god himself was Master Xehanort... with his back facing the boys and still wielding the X-blade...

"...There's nothing here..." Xehanort grumbled.

"Xehanort! Turn around and face us!" Ven growled.

"After all of these years... where is the power?" Xehanort continued to mutter to himself. "Kingdom Hearts is the source of all light and I cannot command it if it has somehow already been snuffed out!"

"Shut up old man! Quit talking to yourself and fight!" Roxas demanded.

The evil man widened his golden eyes with the realization of a newly formed theory. "Unless... this deity still felt threaten by my intrusion even with the X-blade by my side, and it hid the power away... to someone else equally worthy..."

Xehanort suddenly spun around and pointed his X-blade at the three boys who were each reciprocating the threat with the teeth of their keys.

"What do you mean?!" Sora responded.

"...I understand now... one of you three special boys has the power sealed away within you, entrusted in you by the True Kingdom Hearts. ...Which one of you could it be?" Xehanort raised an eyebrow.

"Here he comes, Sora..." Roxas warned.

We're with you buddy!" Ven nodded.

"Get ready, Xehanort!" Sora, along with Roxas and Ventus, charged at him!

* * *

Chernabog had summoned his flocks of smaller black demons to battle all of the enemies around him. But he failed to notice Riku jump high into the air to land a hit on his face.

But Riku was blown away by the immense wind energy that came from Chernabog flapping his wings. But then Drex, Mickey, Xion, and Lea tried a four-man rush on the back of his head; however Chernabog sensed their presence though and he in turn engulfed himself in the fires of hell in a flaming vortex.

Luckily, in combination of Mickey's new barrier magic attack and Lea's fire element they were able to deflect the fire off the rest of them.

When the fire subsided, Aqua up in front and attempted to freeze the monster with her powerful blizzard spell, but then Braig teleported beside her and aimed his arrowgun at her head.

"As if, not today sister." Braig smirked.

"Hey! Leave her alone!" Terra exclaimed when he fired a shot of dark firaga and smacked Braig's good eye, effectively making him blind.

"Gaarhhrggh! Are you kidding me?!" Braig cursed as his sight fell into darkness.

"No... we aren't." Aqua declared as he kicked Braig in the stomach and instantly he became disoriented and fell.

Without his sight, Braig couldn't tell which way was up as he plummeted into the lava near Chernabog's knees...

"Ugh... I'd hate to go out that way..." Drex remarked.

"Let's finish this thing off!" Kairi proclaimed.

"Everyone together!" Namine ordered as they lined up in a row against the dark monster.

"LIGHT!"

Aqua, Terra, Lea, Xion, Drex, Mickey, Kairi, Riku, Namine, and yes even Donald and Goofy fired their own bomb-version of their attacks and launched them in a barrage of energy balls.

Chernabog cringed on impact as all of these attacks hit him at once, but then his very being began to chip away as the light smothered and eventually eviscerated him into nothingness...

As Chernabog was defeated their attacks' aftereffects melted away into a warm sunshine over the overcast wasteland. A sun-like shine was welcoming here as the fight finally ended with both armies of Keybladers returning to whence they came... their resolves mysteriously quelled.

The heroes gathered around at the center of the top of the tower to discuss their next step.

"So uh... what do we do now?" Goofy asked them.

"Was that it? Do we do it?" Xion inquired.

"Not yet..." Riku replied.

"Come on, guys. I think we finally caught a break." Lea wiped away the sweat from his brow. "What could possibly go wrong next?"

At that instant, the whole Keyblade Graveyard began to shake violently! It was past the regular type of earthquake, this was apocalyptic!

"What's happening?!" Donald quacked in a panic.

"Gosh... look!" Mickey pointed towards the sky.

There where the True Kingdom Hearts peeked out behind the clouds... its elegant surface and its unwavering light was... faltering... The moonlight which brilliantly singled its presence began to flicker and even darken...

* * *

"Hahaha!" Xehanort cackled as he fought his three opponents. "Child's play!"

"Ven! Sora!" Roxas formulated. "Let's try a pincer move!"

His friends complied as they tried going at their enemy all at once, but Xehanort merely teleported away and fired a bolt of lightning on them which they all barely dodged. The three boys then surrounded Xehanort on three sides ready to take him on again.

"Enough of this futile resistance!" Xehanort bellowed as he teleported behind Ventus. "Feckless Neophyte..."

Xehanort then slashed into Ven's side and then swung him up to his head to end his struggle. "I guess you do not have my power Ventus, as I suspected... Perhaps your double has it... the Nobody that was never meant to exist?"

"Shut up! I am me! Nobody else!" Roxas steamed as he lost his temper. "You're going to pay for what you did to Ven!" Roxas dashed at the old man.

"Roxas! Don't! It's a trap!" Sora tried to warn him but it was too late...

Roxas had ran right into the magnetic field spell Xehanort had placed on the end of his X-blade which pulled Roxas right onto it, impaling him. Master Xehanort then threw him off his blade and Roxas landed beside Ventus as the evil man turned his attention on the last possible target.

"Sora... the ordinary boy... why didn't I think of it sooner?" Xehanort pondered to himself. "The unlikeliest of places..."

"...I can't win, can I?" Sora stated.

"So... you finally understand?" Xehanort took notice.

"Yeah..." Sora confirmed as he lowered his Kingdom Key and kept his eyes cast downward...

"A wise choice on your part... now, hand over what I deserve and I may spare you..." Xehanort ordered.

**Play the Kingdom Hearts Sora's Sacrifice Theme on a second tab.**

Sora then put his left hand in his pocket to pull out the glass bottle Riku had given him which was from Ansem the Wise...

"I hope this works..." Sora hoped as he threw the bottle to the ground which smashed to pieces in front of him.

"What is the meaning of this?" Xehanort questioned. "What is that?"

Sora then picked up the scroll of paper which had data in the form of a message. "...I get it now..." He stated sadly as he tossed aside the paper.

"Xehanort... you were searching for answers that were right in front of you. You may not have known it... but... you lost a long time ago..." Sora explained.

"Boy, what are rambling on about?" Xehanort inquired as he raised his X-blade. "When did I lose?"

"When you became a Keyblade wielder and chose the path to darkness... you began to lose... yourself..." Sora continued as his chest began to glow...

Xehanort gasped. "You have the power I seek! Then feel the tempest that is my blade!"

Xehanort then rushed Sora, X-blade in hand, and Sora did not move a muscle...

"...And all we have to do is..." Sora was cut off as the X-blade impaled his chest, piercing his heart...

"Open the door..."

The light shined so bright... like a thousand suns had erupted between the two opponents. Sora had understood to fix everything he had to make the ultimate sacrifice and give his special power back and open the Door to Light with the X-blade as a catalyst and expose them both...

"...Impossible..." Xehanort was astonished by the sudden realization that he had lost... such an evil heart exposed to such a pure light... no shadows to cower in or dark crevices to take refuge in.

The light simply engulfed them... as they were both blinded and eviscerated from existence, the X-blade was shattered into powder and blown away by the shockwave...

Suddenly, small clouds of light separated from the main hub of the resulting Door to Light, and they traveled to Ven and Roxas to heal their wounds and carry them out of Kingdom Hearts before the impending implosion...

"Riku... Kairi... everyone... I'm sorry..."

* * *

The Graveyard was quiet... the Guardians waited on top of the tower for Roxas and Ventus to awaken... and eventually they did...

"Roxas!" Xion sobbed as she wrapped her arms around him.

"Ven!" Aqua and Terra cried as they pulled their little blonde friend into an embrace as well.

"Where's Sora?" Riku worriedly inquired.

"...I think he didn't..." But Roxas didn't finish when he realized the horror at the end of the sentence.

"No... no... No! That's not true!" Kairi denied with all of her heart.

"Sora's gone... I can't sense him..." Namine sadly confirmed.

"Gosh... Master Yen Sid too..." Mickey added as he wiped away his tears.

"Sora... he sacrificed himself to save us all..." Ven responded.

"He shouldn't of." Riku firmly replied.

"But Xehanort is gone, for good this time. I can feel his darkness doesn't exist anywhere anymore..." Terra retorted.

"...SORA!" Kairi screamed at the empty sky.

There was nothing more to be said as they all grieved for their losses, and eventually they left the now again empty Keyblade Graveyard, hoping they all would never come back ever again...

* * *

**A/N- Sorry for the slow update, but I was very very busy. Forgive me. So... Xehanort is finally defeated, destroyed by the light found in the heart of another... he never saw it coming that Sora was destined to end his ambitions, but at a steep sacrifice. The story is nearing its conclusion as the epilogue will be the next chapter. What will everyone do now? How will they recover from their losses? Find out next time in the final chapter of Resolve of All!  
**


	22. Chapter 22: Epilogue

**The Reslove of All**

Chapter 22: Epilogue

**Play your favorite version of KH Dearly Beloved (Mine is Birth by Sleep)**

It had been about three months since the end of the war... and all they could do was move on...

Roxas sighed in the new average-looking apartment he and his three friends had just bought in Radiant Garden. They had rid themselves of their Keyblade armor and their Organization coats for good this time and resumed wearing their normal street clothes.

"Hey guys, Mickey sent us another message." Lea notified them all as they were all just casually sitting in the living room.

"What does he want now?" Drex grumbled.

"He wants us to meet him at Destiny Islands." Lea answered. "Hmm, I wonder why..."

"We should go and check on Riku and Kairi anyway." Xion advised them. "Let's do it for them."

"Alright." Drex and Roxas finally agreed.

"I'll summon the corridor." Lea piped up as they filed out of the apartment and soon the four of them stepped onto a tropical paradise that was Destiny Islands.

While the four of them were walking along the shore towards the dock, they all noticed a crowd of very familiar people. Riku, Namine, Ventus, Aqua, Terra, Mickey, Donald, and Goofy were crowded around a heartwarming and miraculous sight...

There in the sand... Kairi was lying on top of someone... someone who was red as a ripe tomato...

"K-Kairi! What are you doing?!" Sora exclaimed in embarrassment.

"Sora... Sora... you're back!" Kairi sobbed.

"What happened here?! I thought you were gone Sora!" Roxas was elated as he and his friends joined the group.

"I thought I was too." Sora smiled as he and Kairi got back on their feet.

"You better explain yourself." Riku smirked.

"Why does it matter?" Namine questioned. "Sora's back, everyone's together again."

"If Sora is back... Xehanort could still be out there." Terra realized.

"Oh! Xehanort's not coming back." Sora surprisingly assured them.

"Huh? How do you know that?" Ven inquired.

"Well... you guys said I was gone for three months, but the whole thing felt like yesterday." Sora informed them as he scratched his head. "I don't know what exactly happened, but I do Xehanort and I went to this place."

"Go on, what place?." Aqua motioned for him to continue.

"There was this voice that called out to both of us, and it said I could leave." Sora stated.

"And Xehanort? Did he leave too?" Lea asked.

"No... The voice said he had to stay... I really don't think he's coming back." Sora answered. "When I woke up, I was just here. Kinda strange I guess, I don't remember much other than that though."

"Gosh, maybe you both were in some sort of purgatory or something..." Mickey guessed. "Master Xehanort may be powerful, but even he has his limits."

"You're right. That guy was real old." Drex responded.

"And I doubt he's ever going to show his face again." Xion added.

"And even if he does... we'll be ready for him... all of us." Riku declared.

"Yeah! I mean we can keep things going with the Land of Departure back up and running." Ven chuckled.

"You four are all still not Masters right? Well, I can train you." Aqua offered to Roxas, Xion, Lea, and Drex.

"Leave Radiant Garden?" Lea raised an eyebrow then broke into a smile. "Why not? The apartment isn't doing us any favors. We could use a fresh start!"

"We'll go too!" Roxas spoke for himself and Xion.

"No thanks." Drex declined.

Everyone in the group took notice of Drex turning down an official apprenticeship and decided to turn their attention towards him.

"But Drex... don't you want to be a Keyblade Master too?" Xion inquired.

"Yeah, stick with us." Roxas added.

"You know... after everything we've gone through... after everything I've done... I realize what I want. And I'm sorry but that's not becoming a Master of the Keyblade..."

"Then what do you want, Drex?" Lea asked.

"I want to go home. My real home." Drex confessed. "I miss my family, my simple life, and... my friends..."

"Your friends tried to destroy us." Riku retorted.

"It wasn't their fault." Drex defended. "Xehanort made puppets of them all! And some of them tried to help me!"

"Well, we want to help ya Drex, but there's nothing left of them." Mickey said plainly. "Some things are just lost to the darkness forever."

"But how do we know that?" Drex stated in a hopeful tone. "Maybe everything was restored... maybe I can go back."

"But Drex... if you leave... we'll miss you." Xion admitted sadly.

"We've always been there for you. And now you're just going to leave us?" Lea questioned feeling slightly betrayed.

"...No. It's just that," Drex proclaimed. "...I want to see them."

Suddenly, a white portal opened up on the water's edge in front of all of them! The portal itself was dim enough to stare directly at it, but where could it possibly lead?

"A portal..." Kairi confirmed.

"A portal to where though?" Riku inquired.

"Wait a second!" Drex amazingly stated. "I can sense them! Everyone on the others side of this portal is..."

"Your old home." Sora finished.

"Brendan."

"Huh?"

They all thought they were seeing things when they all saw the normal forms of Mona, Skyler, Mark, Alliana, and Fate take shape side-by-side in front of the white portal...

"Guys... you're alive." Drex relieved as he quickly embraced Mona. "But... how is this possible?!"

"We were wondering the same thing to be honest." Fate smiled.

"It looks like we all got a second chance, or in some other cases, a third or fourth." Mark grinned.

"Hey, you're not helping." Skyler chuckled.

"It looks like someone up there was looking out for all of us." Alliana stated as she pointed to the sky.

"Now... we can be together again." Mona lovingly smiled as she released Drex and held his hand. "We can go back home..."

"Home?" Drex wanted to clarify as he looked back at a worried Roxas, Xion, and Lea for support. "Can I come back?"

"Uh... that's the thing. This is a one-way trip and it'll reset everything that happened before the darkness took out world." Skyler stated as he sheepishly scratched his head.

"You need to make a choice now before the portal closes." Mona gripped Drex's hand firmly now. "Here or there!"

"But I have a Keyblade! I can just-!" But Drex was interrupted.

"No." Mark cut him off. "I'm sorry, but the way it works, you won't be able to use your Keyblade if you go home."

"...I... How am I supposed to choose?!" Drex questioned in a panic tone.

"Listen to your heart... what does it want?" Mona advised.

"...I... I don't know... I... I can't decide!" Drex responded. "I want to stay with everyone!"

"You have to choose, and we have to know now! The portal is closing!" Fate warned.

"What's it going to be Drex?" Alliana asked.

"Drex... go."

Drex's ears perked up at the sound of Xion's cracked voice which was followed by a sob and a sniffle.

"Go home Drex. It's where you belong." She continued.

"Xion..." Drex sadly said. "Roxas? Lea? I... don't want to leave you guys."

"Drex... it's been a blast, really it has, but I have to go with Xion on this one. We'll remember ya, always. Got it memorized?"

"And Drex," Roxas added. "You have sacrificed more than you should have for us, you gotta go back. You know it's the best choice..."

"...Guys, I... I have absolutely no regrets with having you as my friends." Drex smiled as his eyes began to water. "...And I'll never forget you. All of you."

"Then take this as a keepsake." Xion shaped up so that she could give Drex an ice cream stick that had WINNER inscribed in the wood. "You'll always remain in our hearts... goodbye and thank you."

Drex almost lost himself in the sadness and the grief as he gently took possession of the ice cream stick and held it close to his chest. But before he could say anything else, someone shouted that the portal was closing! So, some of the other Keyblade wielders took it upon themselves to blow the six friends back to their home using powerful Aero magic.

They were blown into the portal together... they were going home...

"They're gone." Lea stated as they all stared at the empty beach where the portal use to be.

"Good thing we got them all through." Riku responded.

"Got who through?"

"Yeah, who are we talking about again?"

"I can't seem to remember."

"...Yeah me neither."

"Wait... why are we here?"

"Oh yeah... Sora's back!"

Their chattering resumed, none of them knowing what had previously transpired, their memories tragically sealed and lost for some sick reason of fate. Most likely because these people were sent so far away that even in the memories of others they cannot linger... maybe it really was for the best...

But nevertheless... they were all happy; they were all untied where they belonged, their friendships keeping them strong...

"Come on guys, let's celebrate!" They all cheered as they traveled to their next destination.

* * *

"...Ugh... what happened?" Brendan rubbed his head gingerly when he woke up in that same strange cave where it all began for him. "Wait a minute! Xion! Roxas! Lea..."

Now he remembered... they all pushed him into the portal because he wasn't quick enough. He wished he could have said a few more words but... he guessed it was too late now.

"I can remember everything too." Brendan talked to himself as he tried to summon his Keyblade but he was unsuccessful. "No luck, huh? I wonder if the others are around."

Brendan then made his way out of the cave and soon found himself back at his old house. He could see through the nearby window and witness his little sister and parents getting prepared for dinner. All he had to do was turn the doorknob and...

"Hey you!"

Brendan turned around to the voice who called him, and there were his five friends, staring at him with varying expressions.

"You calling it a day already?" Skyler smirked.

"Mona told us everything Brendan. We know it wasn't your fault." Mark stated.

"What are you guys talking about?" Brendan questioned.

"The flying machine, silly." Mona pouted. "After everything that's happened, I think we can all look past it."

"So... you guys still remember too?" Brendan questioned.

"Of course." Fate nodded. "Hard to forget something like that."

"We've decided to keep it a secret though. Who would believe us anyway, right?" Skyler did have a point.

"Right." Brendan nodded as he reached inside his pocket and pulled out the ice cream stick. "...I guess somehow... we're all winners this way."

"That's so corny, Brendan." Mona giggled.

"So, what do you want to do then... Drex?" Alliana grinned.

Brendan answered with a confident smile as he placed the stick back in his pocket. "Let's get to work."

* * *

**A/N- I thought about the ending A LOT and how I wanted to close out Drexbann... This ending may not be my best, but I'm content with it. ...Well, real sad this story is over. If you guys have read this series up to this point, then I thank you from the bottom of my heart. Sometimes my writing depends on what mood I'm in, and yeah... I have those crazy days :) My updating speed has slowed down, I've noticed, but I'll still keep at it... eventually.  
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**I'd like to thank the other people who owned the other OC's: Antex, Squirmyorchid, ShadowWarrior, Riilustra, and DecidedFate13. I hope I did your characters justice. Thank You! :)****  
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**And finally, my next story project: Kingdom Hearts Reborn! A complete OC story of my own, so check it out if you're not busy, if not, that's fine too.**

**Live Long and Healthy Lives!**


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